


Time Heals

by Girls_aremyweakness



Category: The 100 (TV)
Genre: Angst, F/F, Family, Feels, Fluff, Humor
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-05-27
Updated: 2016-09-19
Packaged: 2018-07-10 13:22:54
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 15
Words: 57,461
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6986797
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Girls_aremyweakness/pseuds/Girls_aremyweakness
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Lexa needs someone to look after her brother, Aden, while she's at work. Who better suited to the job than, Clarke? A struggling artist who doesn't have much experience, but ends up being perfect for the job in her own way. </p><p>Clarke is supposed to look after Aden, but this is a Clexa fic, so it's almost guaranteed she will be looking after Lexa too.</p><p>Fluff, family stuff, hopefully a bit of humor and (minimal) angst.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

"Wake up!"

"Remind me again why you still have a key?" Clarke grumbles into her pillow, refusing to open her eyes.

"For emergencies and so I can feed your cat," Octavia replies from the doorway.

"I don't have a cat!" 

" _Anyway_ , I have some good news for you!" Octavia changes the subject as she takes a step into the room and sits on the bed with her back against the wall. Clarke begrudgingly rolls over to face Octavia and opens one eye to show she's listening. 

"Last night during dinner with Lincoln's sister, Anya, she got a call from her best friend who needed her to watch her brother. Lincoln being the sweetheart he is," Octavia pauses to shoot Clarke some disgusting heart eyes, "told Anya's friend to just bring him over and he could have dinner with us."

"The good news is that Lincoln likes kids? Octavia, I'm thrilled you've found a decent guy but that's not a good enough reason to wake me up this early in the morning," Clarke rolls her eyes and turns over to go back to sleep.

"Clarke, it's one in the afternoon you lazy shit!" Octavia laughs as she hits Clarke lightly over the head with a pillow, "And no, the good news is I found you a job! I know you've been struggling since I moved out to live with Lincoln, but this is the perfect solution."

"Ugh, I don't _need_ a job. I'm half way through finishing my graphic novel and the freelance stuff I'm doing is covering the bills, okay?" Clarke huffs, annoyed at the insinuation she can't take care of herself.

"Sure, your freelancing covers the bills but I've seen your fridge, there's hardly any food in there and I know it's taking you longer to finish your comic book because the art supplies are expensive," Octavia rolls Clarke back to face her, "Lexa needs someone to watch her brother after he gets home from school because she works late sometimes and this would be perfect for you."

"Are you kidding?" Clarke laughs, "I don't know the first thing about babysitting!"

"You volunteer every other week at the hospital your Mom works at with those kids and you get along with them just fine," Octavia points out.

"Sure, I get along with those kids for like two hours every other week but I don't think that makes me a qualified babysitter!"

"Look, Lexa's brother is a really sweet kid. He's maybe 11 or 12 so he isn't a toddler, he can mostly look after himself. He just needs someone to make sure he does his homework and doesn't burn down the kitchen. Lexa has been interviewing people for a week and hasn't found the right person for the job because she doesn't trust anyone enough with her brother."

"If she doesn't trust a qualified professional, what makes you think she'll trust me?" Clarke scoffs. She doesn't have any qualifications or actual experience with children.

"Because she needs to go back to work next week and she's getting desperate.. Plus you're my friend and I can vouch for you," Octavia looks down at Clarke, giving her a wide smile, "Come on Clarke, just think about it for a minute. It's easy work, you can still work on your art at night when your 'artistic inspiration' usually hits and it will pay _really_ well!"

"How well?" Clarke has to admit her interest is at least a tiny bit piqued at the prospect of steady money coming in for as minimal work as possible.

"Lexa is some big shot lawyer, so i think it's fair to say she isn't short of money," Octavia says while slipping her phone out of her pocket and checking her messages while Clarke takes a second to mull things over.

The cons are obvious. Clarke is an only child with no experience with kids except for the few hours on weekends when she visits the hospital to paint and play with the children there. Making sure to pick up a kid from school means she would have to be on time which isn't really her strong suit but I suppose it could be doable. The pros are more income, obviously. Even though she tried to put on a brave face for Octavia, it actually has been hard to make ends meet and it would be good to focus on her comic book that she's been working on for years. 

"Okay," Clarke sighs, rolling onto her back.

"Great," Octavia gives her a big smile, eyes shining, "now go get showered and ready because Lexa wants to meet you for coffee."

Clarke's eyes bulge slightly, "Now? I'm not prepared! How did you even know I'd agree?"

"I didn't. I just knew whether you agreed or not, I was going to make you at least go talk to her because Octavia knows best," she replies, sending Clarke a smirk, "Lexa wants you to meet her at the coffee place around the corner in an hour. Go get ready, I’ll let myself out."

"Wait, how will I know who she is? What does she look like?" 

"Brown hair and green eyes, looks a bit like a goddess. Let me know how it goes!" Octavia shouts as she walks out the bedroom door and leaves through the front door, the house silent once again. 

***

Clarke pushes the door of The Ark coffee house open and steps through whilst taking a deep breath, preparing herself mentally. Now that she's had time to think about it, the idea of having basically an afternoon job has grown on her. It would allow Clarke to breathe a bit more freely financially, whilst having ample time to work on her art projects. All she has to do now is impress Lexa enough to hire her, which explains the sudden nerves.

Clarke takes a slow look around the cafe, hoping to spot Lexa. Luckily with it being the afternoon and after lunch it isn't too crowded. Clarke spots a brunette sitting in a booth towards the back by the window and takes one last steadying breath before walking over. 

"Lexa?" Clarke asks, trying to grab the attention of the brunette who is looking out the window.

Stunning green eyes look up at Clarke and she feels her breath hitch slightly as she takes in Lexa's face. Octavia wasn't exaggerating with her 'goddess' comment. This girl has the most intense eyes Clarke has ever seen. Lexa's jaw line looks like it was sculpted by the god's themselves and her hair is perfectly braided away from her face.

"Hi, you must be Clarke?" Lexa stands up and motions for her to sit down opposite her in the booth, "Can i get you a coffee?"

"Could i get a cappuccino?" Clarke turns to the bag next to her, searching for her purse. She finally fishes some money out of her bag to see Lexa has already disappeared to the counter. Clarke takes the few minutes alone to sneak glances at Lexa as she orders and waits for their coffee. Lexa is wearing dark jeans that look like they were painted on and a loose fitting sweater that no doubt hides a sleek physique if her bottom half is anything to go by. If she had to guess, she would say Lexa is in her mid to late 20's. 

Lexa walks back over to their booth with two take away cups and places one in front of Clarke before sitting down across from her. Clarke removes the lid from her coffee and adds two sugars before stirring it and taking a sip. The caffeine is welcome and the warmth calms her.

"So, Clarke, let’s cut to the chase since I have to pick up my brother Aden in half an hour from school. Octavia tells me you have experience with children?" Lexa questions while taking a sip of her own coffee.

Experience? Clarke wonders exactly what Octavia told Lexa about her background with children and mentally sighs.

"I don't have any qualifications or anything. My Mom is a surgeon at the local hospital and I volunteer on the children's ward every other week," Clarke replies, nervously taking another sip of coffee.

Lexa quirks her eyebrow, "That's not exactly the amount of experience I was hoping for."

"Well," Clarke takes a second to think, "I've been volunteering since I was a teenager, roughly 12-13 years and a few hours at a time. I'm not the best at maths but three hours for 26 weeks a year over a decade adds up. Qualifications are for teachers or people looking to take care of kids full time. I have real life experience in keeping kids entertained and having a surgeon for a Mom means I have a bit more medical knowledge than the average person, so if anything happens, I know first aid," Clarke smiles briefly at Lexa before continuing, "I'm loyal, reliable and thanks to Octavia, you know I'm somewhat trustworthy."

"All valid points, Clarke," Lexa smiles lightly, "I'm not too caught up in qualifications. I've met with a few people this week who have pages of qualifications and experience, but they aren't quite the right fit. Aden, my brother, has been through a lot," Lexa takes a deep breath before locking eyes with Clarke again, "Our parents passed away two weeks ago in a car crash and he hasn't spoken a word since."

Lexa takes a long sip of her coffee, glancing out of the window solemnly. Clarke lets those words sink in and regards Lexa in a new light. Lexa's eye are striking, no doubt, but there are dark circles underneath. She must have been through hell these last few weeks. Losing one parent is hard enough, but both? And now Lexa has her brother to look after. It's a wonder to Clarke how she looks as put together as she does, with only her eyes giving her away. 

"I need someone who is responsible enough to look after Aden until I get home, yes. But what _he_ needs, is someone who is patient and understanding," Lexa says, looking exhausted. "Qualifications are great on paper but that doesn't necessarily translate to being a good match."

"I was eleven when my father died," Clarke looks down at her coffee cup, surprising herself with the words coming out of her mouth. It's rare that she talks about her Dad, let alone brings it up herself. "I remember feeling lost and afraid. I don't think I came out of my room for a week. It took me a long time to deal with the pain," Clarke looks back up at Lexa, "If you're looking for someone who can relate to Aden, I can. I know how it feels to lose someone at a young age. Working at the hospital means I've seen a lot of heartache, but if there's one thing I've taken from there, it's that kids are resilient," Clarke smiles softly at Lexa, trying to convey that Aden will be resilient too.

"I'm sorry about your father, Clarke," Lexa says with a frown, "I think I'm beginning to see why Octavia was so adamant about me meeting with you after I picked up Aden last night."

"I have to admit, when Octavia first suggested this, I thought she was crazy. But the more I think about it, the more sense it actually makes," Clarke says, looking thoughtfully out the window. Without having met Aden, she already feels a connection. The pain of losing someone is a unique kind of feeling.

"Tell me more about you, Clarke," Lexa draws Clarke back out of her thoughts.

"That's quite a broad question," Clarke replies, "I'm 24, I majored in art at college, I live by myself now Octavia has moved in with Lincoln and my shoe size is 9," she finishes, smiling.

Lexa smiles at that last bit, "Are you looking for work in the art industry?"

"If you're worried about me leaving you in the lurch with Aden, that's not a problem. I'm working on my own art project which I can do at any time of the day. I'm actually a bit of a night owl so i prefer to work late anyway," Clarke reassures. "What about you, Lexa? All I know about you is that you're a lawyer and have a brother."

"I'm 27, I went to law school, I live in an apartment with my brother and my shoe size is also 9," Lexa finishes her sentence with a sip of her coffee.

"That's not very enlightening," Clarke replies, slightly disappointed not to have discovered anything about Lexa that she couldn't have guessed for herself.

"Well, I'm not the one being interviewed," Lexa says, with a lift of her eyebrow in challenge.

Clarke rolls her eyes, giving up for now on getting to know more about Lexa. "What would the hours be like?"

"I recently got a promotion at work, so I can't spend as much time at home right now as I would like. I can take Aden to school before leaving for work, so that's not an issue. I'll try to be home before 7pm most days but I can't control what cases I'm given and how much attention they'll need. The latest I’ll be home at night is 10pm, would that be okay with you?" Lexa asks, searching Clarke's face for an answer.

"That sounds okay. What time does Aden finish school?"

"He has soccer practice on Tuesday's and Thursday's which finish at 4:30pm, otherwise he finishes at 3pm. Speaking of which," Lexa takes a quick glance at her phone, checking the time, "I should get going to pick him up."

Lexa finishes the rest of her coffee before standing up and taking Clarke's empty cup with hers to the bin. Clarke grabs her bag and follows Lexa out of the cafe, over to where Lexa has parked her car on the street.

"Thank you for meeting with me today, Clarke," Lexa smiles briefly, "If it's okay with you, I think I'd like you to meet Aden before deciding if the job is yours?"

"Yeah, of course, that's totally understandable," Clarke replies, smiling at the realization Lexa is at least willing to give her a chance.

"Great," Lexa reaches into her pocket and pulls out a business card, "here's my number, text me so I have yours and we can set up a time to meet up over the weekend." Lexa hands Clarke the card and with a final wave, gets into her car.

Clarke takes a step back and places the business card in her bag, watching Lexa drive out of view before turning away and walking back to her apartment. That went better than she anticipated.

***

 

Lexa arrives back to her apartment with Aden and sets her keys down on the kitchen counter. She hears Aden slouch off to his bedroom with a soft click of his door. Lexa lets out a quiet sigh and runs a hand over her hair. Lexa understands Aden needs time to process everything that happened, that he's finding solace in the silence, but it doesn't make it any easier. She loves her brother more than anything in the world but she wasn't ready to take care of a kid full time. She's constantly battling with her own grief over her parent’s death and guilt that she might not be enough for Aden. Work graciously gave her two weeks off but as of Monday, it's back to the office which means long hours.

Lexa pulls her phone out of her pocket to check her messages and sees there are two.

**UNKNOWN NUMBER - Hi, this is Clarke. It was nice meeting you today. I look forward to meeting Aden soon - Clarke**

**ANYA - Hey Commander, how did it go with Octavia's friend? Hope you played nice.**

She decides to reply to Clarke later once she's had a chance to talk to Aden, so she responds to Anya instead.

**Lexa to ANYA - It went well. You'll be pleased to know I was so emotionally drained that I was nicer than usual.**

**ANYA - While I'm glad you didn't bite anyone's head off, I'm worried about you. I know these last couple of weeks have been hard on you.**

**Lexa to ANYA - Stop being so damn mushy, it's weird. I'm fine.**

**ANYA - Call me if you need anything.**

Lexa puts her phone on charge before opening the fridge, wondering what she could make for dinner. She's really not the best at cooking, but she'll have to learn how to make more meals now she has to look after the two of them. Making a mental note to go food shopping on the weekend, she closes the fridge and gets out a pizza menu from one of the draws.

"Aden!" She shouts, hoping he hasn't got his headphones in.

A moment later Aden walks out of his bedroom, eyebrows raised in question.

"What do you think to pizza?" Lexa knows she isn't likely to get an answer, but she thinks it's important to keep talking to Aden, trying to include him in conversations even if he doesn't want to actively participate. "I'm thinking we can share a pepperoni pizza and maybe some garlic bread?" She suggests, knowing Aden loves garlic bread. Aden responds with a slight upwards tilt of his lips, which Lexa accepts as agreement. 

"Go put your shoes on, we'll take a walk together and pick it up," Lexa says, walking over to where her phone is charging to place the order. The pizza place is only a ten minute walk away. She's been using any excuse to get Aden to leave his room. Not only has he been silent since he came to live with her, he's been locking himself away, only really surfacing to eat or when Lexa coaxes him to watch TV with her. 

Aden walks back into the room just as she hangs up from placing the pizza order. Lexa grabs her keys and wallet before leading the way out of the apartment. 

Once they reach the sidewalk, Lexa takes a glance at Aden to assess his mood. He has dark circles under his eyes that match hers; neither of them seems to be getting much sleep these days despite both being exhausted. His shoulders are slouched and his eyes are downcast.

"I met with someone today, someone to look after you until I get home from work," Lexa analyzes his face, but he barely acknowledges that she spoke, "Her name is Clarke. She's young, well, not that much younger than me, but at least she isn't older like the other people I met with this week." Aden had seen the applications she had flicked through yesterday before school and had written a single word over them 'BORING'. At first she was annoyed, but the more she thought about it, the more she realized that he would be spending up to six or seven hours with the person a day. If _she_ were a almost a teenager, the last thing she'd want is to be spending that much time with someone over 40. It's what made her take the chance on Clarke. Lexa may have wanted a higher standard of experience, but Aden needed some input too.

"I want you to meet her before I officially offer her the job. Listen, Aden," Lexa reaches a hand out to touch his shoulder, making sure he looks her in the eye, "I know you'd rather not have anyone looking after you. I know it would be better if I could pick you up from school, just like...like Mom used to, but I can't right now. I promise that I will work harder than ever before to make sure I spend as little time at the office as possible. We'll make this work, okay?" Lexa looks reassuringly at Aden, hoping that he hears the desperate truth in her words but her heart breaks when she sees his eyes watering with unshed tears.

She ruffles his hair, which she knows he hates and plasters on an overly bright smile on her face, "Come on, let’s go get that pizza, I’m starving."

***

Clarke is sitting on her couch, sketching a scene for her comic book when Octavia calls.

"Hey, Octavia," she greets, placing her sketchbook on the coffee table.

"Oh, so your phone does work? You were supposed to let me know how it went with Lexa!" Octavia scolds.

"I'm sorry! I had an idea for the comic while walking back from the cafe so I was kind of in the zone."

"That sounds about right. So, how did it go?" Octavia asks eagerly.

"It went well, I think," Clarke swtiches the phone to her other ear, "She wants me to meet Aden before she decides officially."

Octavia lets out a little squeal, "That's great, Clarke! I didn't want to say anything before but Lincoln told me Lexa can be quite the hard ass, so I'm glad it went well."

"You conveniently left out that piece of information," Clarke rolls her eyes, "She was nice. She didn't grill me too much about not having qualifications and she opened up a bit about her brother."

"I didn't want to mention their background because it's not really my place," Octavia says, somewhat hesitantly, "but it did cross my mind that you might be a good fit for Aden." 

Clarke lets out a deep sigh, the ache in her chest only slight at the reminder of her father.

"We'll see. Lexa wants us to meet up over the weekend," Clarke replies, putting her feet up on the coffee table, trying to relax her body.

"She wouldn't want you to meet Aden unless she was willing to offer you the job. Aden is quiet, obviously, but he's well behaved from what I've seen. Just be yourself with him," Octavia advises.

"Noted. Thanks, Octavia."

"Anything for you, Princess. Okay, I'm about to make dinner so I'll talk to you later. Remember to _actually_ let me know how things go after you see Lexa next, yeah?"

Clarke rolls her eyes again, even though Octavia can't see, "Yeah, bye."

Clarke hangs up and places the phone next to her sketchbook on the table. She wonders what Aden is like. Without conciously doing so, she's picturing a boy with the same piercing green eyes that Lexa has. The kids at the hospital took a shine to Clarke because she never takes herself too seriously and is always willing to play games. She hopes Aden will be as easy to win over. Her thoughts are interrupted by a text message lighting up her phone.

**LEXA - Hello, Clarke. Are you free Saturday afternoon for a few hours to meet Aden?**

****CLARKE to LEXA - Yes, i'm free :)** **

****LEXA - Great. Text me your address and we'll pick you up at 1pm** **

Clarke sends Lexa a message with her address and puts her phone down, leaning back against the couch. She closes her eyes and wonders what they'll be doing on Saturday.


	2. Chapter 2

Ever since they were roommates in college Clarke, Octavia and Raven have spent their Saturday's together. It didn't matter if they were hungover, if they were seeing someone at the time or if they had assignments due. They made a pact to make time for each other even if it was only for a couple of hours. Now that they're no longer living together, it's more important to them than ever to catch up and keep up to date with each other's lives. Clarke had let the girls know that Lexa was going to pick her up after lunch so they had organized to meet for brunch at a cafe they used to frequent when in college.

"Sorry I'm late! You know I hate waking up before midday," Clarke apologizes while taking off her coat and sitting in the booth opposite Octavia and Raven.

"About time princess. I'm starving and Octavia wouldn't let me order until you graced us with your presence," Raven huffs while Clarke settles into her seat, placing her jacket and bag in the space next to her.

Octavia rolls her eyes, "You've only been waiting for five minutes."

"Yeah well that's five extra minutes I'll have to wait for pancakes," Raven scowls and crosses her arms petulantly.

"If I let you have some of my bacon, will that shut you up?" Clarke asks with an amused smile, used to Raven's dramatics and love of food.

Raven pretends to ponder this for a few moments before agreeing. "You have a deal," Raven looks over at Octavia who is shaking her head at Clarke for indulging Raven's antics, "O, am I allowed to go order now?"

"Yes, but your punishment for making me listen to your whining is to go order for all of us." Octavia looks satisfied with her plan and hands Raven some cash so she won't have to get up herself.

"I like the sound of that!" Clarke grabs some money out of her purse and puts it on the table in front of Raven. "I assume you know our orders by heart after all these years," Clarke says with an overly sweet smile.

"This is why I chose to live alone after college," Ravens grumbles, snatching the money off the table and exiting the booth.

They watch Raven leave before locking eyes with each other and sharing a look that says 'I love that we're friends'. It always feels nice to fall into familiar banter with her longest friends.

"So, you're meeting Aden later?" Octavia asks.

Clarke takes a deep breath, trying not to let her nerves show too much. "Yep. Lexa said they would pick me up later but didn't say what we were doing." Clarke has been wracking her brain for the last couple of days trying to think of where they would be going. So far, all of the scenarios in Clarke's head have ended with Aden hating her.

"Don't look so scared, Clarke! I had to practically force you to meet with her and now you look like you'll pass out if it doesn't go to plan," Octavia laughs, not used to seeing Clarke nervous.

"I don't know, O. Listening to Lexa talk about her brother... It just hit close to home. I haven't even met him yet but I know I want to help him," Clarke thinks about Lexa's exhausted face and amends her sentence, "I want to help _them_."

"This is why your Mom was so devastated when you decided to major in art instead of medicine," Octavia replies with an indulgent smile, "You have an incessant need to fix everything for everyone, Clarke. I don't suppose Lexa's face has anything to do with your desire to help?" Octavia asks with a coy wink. Raven arrives back to their booth to catch Octavia's insinuation.

"Whose face? What did I miss?" Raven asks eagerly, leaning forward to interrogate Clarke.

"I was just saying I'm nervous about meeting Aden. I want to make a good impression," Clarke answers, having already filled Raven in yesterday over the phone about her potential new job.

"Clarke, he doesn't talk," Raven laughs, "even you can't mess this up."

Octavia snorts before intervening, "She might mess up if Lexa is around. That girl is a 10 in anyone's mind."

"She would be my boss!" Clarke defends, ignoring the two smirks being directed at her.

"If she's as good looking as you say, why didn't you set me up with her?" Raven asks, looking accusingly at Octavia.

"Because you're a mechanic and don't need a job?" Octavia replies, feigning ignorance.

"Not why didn't you set me up with a _job_ , why didn't you set me up with a hot girl? I haven't had much action since Wick and you still owe me for playing matchmaker with you and Lincoln!"

"For the last time, Raven, you didn't get Lincoln and I together. You work together and I was generously bringing you lunch. The stars just aligned." Octavia smiles dreamily while Clarke tries not to roll her eyes.

"Yes, but if I hadn't gotten a job at this particular garage, you'd never have met!"

"Fine," Octavia relents, "the next good looking boy or girl will be sent your way."

Raven smiles triumphantly before turning her attention back to Clarke, "Now that's settled, how's your comic going?"

"I'm having trouble with the ending," Clarke replies, slightly dejected, "and the beginning and middle to be honest. I have a vision, it's just tying it all together. I had always planned to end the first part on a cliffhanger with my main character deciding whether to pull a lever, but it feels like that's too easy." Raven and Octavia nod along, trying to empathize even though they've not been allowed to actually read Clarke's comic book. "Anyway, it will get there. I just need to approach it with some fresh ideas."

As Clarke finishes explaining her comic book frustrations, their food and drinks start to arrive. Octavia and Raven spend the rest of brunch trying to distract Clarke as best as possible, which she is incredibly grateful for.

***

Lexa walks through the door of her apartment breathing hard, sweat dripping down her face. She tries to go running a few times a week since it not only keeps her healthy, but helps to clear her mind as well.

"Aden!" Lexa says, walking over to his room and knocking on the door. "Come out here, please." While waiting for Aden to appear, she walks over to the fridge, pulling out a bottle of water and taking a few satisfying gulps. As Lexa rests her water on the counter, Aden emerges from his room and walks over to the kitchen, sitting opposite her on the bar stool but not making eye contact.

"I know you've missed the last few soccer practices, but I called your coach and told him you'll be at the game today," Lexa tells Aden. Without looking her way, he gets up and goes to his room. Lexa sighs and is about to go after him when she sees he has come back from his bedroom holding a notebook and pen.

Aden scribbles 'NO' in big letters. The one words takes up the entire page which enforces the sentiment behind it.

"Aden, it's important that you get back into a routine. I know you enjoy soccer. It will be good for you," Lexa tries to persuade him while remaining as understanding as possible. At work she may be known as a hard-ass and, to be honest, a bit of a bitch. That's the image she has to present to be taken seriously. At home, however, her demeanor is much more relaxed.

Aden takes the pen back in his hand, underlining the word 'NO' a few times before turning it back to face Lexa.

"I remember the first year I started working at the law firm," Lexa reminisces, "I was working day and night, even the weekends, trying to prove myself. I hated that I had to miss some of your games." Lexa brings the bottle of water to rest in her hands, picking at the label, "Dad would send me pictures of you playing, along with a match report." Lexa tries to smile, but it comes out more like a grimace. "Mom never really understood the rules, but she loved watching you play every week. They wouldn't want you to give up soccer, Aden," Lexa feels a twinge of guilt at mentioning their parents, "if you truly don't want to go because soccer doesn't interest you anymore, then I'll respect that, but don't punish yourself." Lexa looks up to see Aden staring resolutely down at his notebook, but he doesn't write anything else.

"If you decide to go to the soccer match, then get your gear together. Either way we're going to pick up Clarke, so you need to be ready to leave by the time I'm done with my shower."

Lexa finishes the rest of the water and pats Aden's shoulder lightly on her way past him to the bathroom. As she strips her sweaty clothes off and steps into the hot water of the shower, she ponders yet again if she's doing the right thing. Aden was four years old when Lexa went off to college so she didn't have that much experience taking care of him. Sure, she visited her family as much as possible, but hanging out isn't the same as actually taking care of someone. She had gone from being his cool big sister to his sole carer in the blink of an eye and it was a big adjustment for them both. Lexa tried to relax her shoulders and let the water wash away her thoughts, focusing her mind instead to how the afternoon with Clarke would go.

***

Clarke had spent the last hour since she had gotten back from her brunch with Octavia and Raven going through her wardrobe, trying to pick something to wear. She was indecisive at the best of times when it came to choosing her outfits, but not even knowing where she would be going had made it extra difficult do pick something. In the end she had decided on her black jeans that were still casual without being too casual like her lighter jeans that had a hole in one of the knees. She paired the jeans with a light blue button down shirt that she could tuck in later if she needed to look smarter. Clarke thought it was unlikely she would need to look anything other than casual but she didn't want to leave anything to chance. She's just finishing the outfit off with some simple earrings when her phone dings, alerting her that she has a new message.

**LEXA - We're here.**

Clarke takes one final look in the mirror before grabbing her bag off the bed and walking out of the apartment, making sure to lock the door before closing it. She takes the steps downstairs quickly, not wanting to keep lexa waiting. Clarke opens the main door of the apartment complex and spots Lexa leaning against her car, Aden standing next to her with his arms crossed. She smiles at them even though they're probably a bit too far away to really see her doing so and starts to walk over.

"Clarke," Lexa greets, stepping away from the car and tugging Aden forward, "Aden, this is Clarke."

Clarke shifts her eyes to the boy next to Lexa. He's slightly taller than she expected with a lighter shade of hair than Lexa's own dark brown. Aden shifts his eyes from the ground to meet Clarke's and she smiles encouragingly, noticing his eyes are just as green as the girl next to him.

"Hi, Aden. It's nice to meet you," She knows not to expect a response so she carries on talking instead of waiting for an awkward silence, "Your sister was pretty mysterious about what we're doing today," Clarke says, glancing at Lexa with curiosity.

"We're going to Aden's soccer game," Lexa sneaks a glance at Aden, "I hope that's okay. I wanted you to meet his coach since you'll be the one picking him up from practice if everything works out."

Clarke smiles brightly at the two of them, "Yeah of course that's okay. I actually used to go to my friend Octavia's matches in college," she directs at Aden, "I hope you're better than I am. I tried out for the team but they wouldn't let me join because apparently I have the coordination of a 'ninety year old without her glasses' which is fairly accurate, to be honest." Clarke sees Aden's eyes brighten in amusement at the description of her woeful soccer skills.

Lexa smirks at the image of Clarke flailing around on a soccer pitch. "Aden is really good," Lexa responds, ruffling Aden's hair, "then again I have to say that since we're family, so I'll let you judge for yourself. Anyway, we better go so we're not late. Aden," Lexa gestures to the back of the car, "Clarke is sitting in the front so climb in the back."

Lexa walks around to the driver's side and Clarke opens the passenger door, settling into her seat. Lexa starts the car and checks the rear view mirror to see Aden is buckled in before setting off. The radio plays quietly as they drive and nobody is talking but it doesn't feel awkward. Clarke is just happy that the initial introductions are over so she can relax a bit more. She catches Lexa out of the corner of her eye tapping along to the music on her steering wheel.

After ten minutes or so of driving, Lexa turns left into a car park. "This is Aden's school. They have a massive field around the back for all the sporting stuff," Lexa explains to Clarke while carefully parking the car. They all unbuckle their seat belts once the engine turns off and pile out of the car. Lexa walks around to the boot of the car to pull out Aden's soccer bag, handing it over to him before closing it and locking the car.

Aden walks slightly behind them with Lexa leading the way. When the field comes into view, Clarke sees a college sized field with multiple soccer games set up for different teams.

"Six different schools use this pitch," Lexa explains. "It's so big that it can fit a few games at once and that way the schools that don't have a good enough area for soccer can still play."

Clarke's eyes drift to the school beyond the field and notes that it's also bigger than the standard size. Clarke wonders if it's a private school since it looks expensive. She'll have to google it later.

Lexa leads them over to the game which is set up towards the back of the field where kids already seem to be warming up. As they reach the sideline, the coach spots them and tells the boys to keep up their drills while he comes over to talk to them.

"Hi Aden," the coach smiles in his direction, "put your soccer boots on and start warming up with the team." Aden walks over to the bench and starts pulling off his shoes.

"Coach Collins," Lexa nods at him, "this is Clarke. She'll be picking up Aden after practice from now on."

"Nice to meet you Clarke, I'm Coach Collins, but you can call me Finn," he smiles brightly as he holds out his hand for her to shake.

Clarke shakes his hand and thinks he's not bad looking apart from his slightly floppy hair. "Nice to meet you too," she replies and lets go of his hand.

"Will you be attending the games from now on too? We could use more pretty faces cheering us on," Finn flirts with a big smile.

Lexa's eyes narrow slightly at the Coach. "Clarke will just be there for the practices," Lexa answers on her behalf. Clarke is surprised by Lexa's abruptness but doesn't say anything.

"That's a shame." Finn sees some of his players have stopped during their warm up to start talking among themselves. "I better get back to it. See you later Clarke," he shoots another smile in her direction which drops as he faces Lexa, "Lexa, always a pleasure."

Lexa walks over to where Aden has finished putting his boots on and Clarke follows but hangs back to let them talk.

"I'm proud of you for coming today, Aden. Clarke and I will be watching from over there," She points to the opposite side of the pitch which isn't as crowded by spectators. Aden nods before straightening his shoulders and walking over to join his team mates. Lexa waits a couple of minutes to make sure he's okay before beckoning Clarke to follow her to the other side of the pitch where they'll be watching from.

"Damn," Lexa says, looking around at parents who have brought their own fold out chairs and snacks. "Guess I'll have to remember next time to come a bit more prepared."

"It's a rookie move not to bring anything to sit on," Clarke agrees. There are bleachers but they're only on one side of the field which of course is the part they happen to be furthest from. She's happy she wore her comfy shoes. They continue walking around the pitch in silence before coming to a stop near the half-way line. A few minutes later both coaches stop the warm ups, indicating that it's time for the match to start. Finn starts handing out yellow bibs to a few of the boys, Aden included.

"He's leaving Aden out of the starting team," Lexa tells Clarke, clearly annoyed. "Coach Collins' nephew is on the team and competes for the same position as Aden; main striker. He's using Aden's two week absence to bench him."

"Is his nephew good?" Clarke asks, frowning.

Lexa snorts. "My Dad used to joke that he needed a map to find the back of the net," she answers, smiling at the memory.

The whistle blows and the match starts. It's clear from the very beginning that Aden's team in general are quite good, but it's just Finn's nephew who is holding them back. He misses every chance that comes his way. The other team scores just before half time and Lexa groans quietly next to her.

There's a fifteen minute break between halves so Clarke takes the opportunity to make conversation with Lexa.

"Thanks for letting me come with you guys today and giving me a chance," Clarke says, genuinely grateful.

"I'll have to double check with Aden, but I think it's safe to say the job is yours if you want it, Clarke. I head back to work on Monday so I'm kind of desperate... Plus I asked one of the guys at work to check our criminal database we use for our cases to make sure you aren't on it, which you weren't," Lexa says, eyes on Aden who is doing a few practice drills during the break to keep his muscles warm.

"I'll try to ignore the fact you felt the need to check I'm not a criminal and that I'm your last resort," Clarke replies, trying not to let those points affect her. She knows it's not personal and she really is excited now that she knows the job is practically hers.

"I'll pay you $25 an hour and it will be in cash," Lexa explains with her face turning slightly business-like. "You have access to the kitchen as well if that sweetens the deal."

Clarke smiles, more than happy with the money side of things. "You have yourself a deal. If I get kitchen privileges, make sure to have some decent snacks around."

"I'm living with a 12 year old boy who is growing at an alarming rate so snacks are guaranteed. You just might have to fight Aden for them," Lexa jokes. Clarke smiles in response and they quiet down again since the whistle blows signaling the beginning of the second half.

The game restarts similarly to how most of the first half went. Aden's team has most of the possession but can't seem to turn that into scoring a goal to even things up. It's abundantly clear to Clarke at this point that the coach is keeping his nephew on for his own sake rather than that of the team.

There's twenty minutes left of the match and finally Aden gets called over to go on as a substitute for the coach's nephew who Clarke learns is named Murphy after overhearing one of the Mom's whisper that she's glad he was taken off. Lexa shouts a loud "Go Aden!" and Clarke claps loudly, excited to finally see the boy in action.

It's clear the moment Aden touches the ball that he's a natural and Clarke is impressed. Five minutes after introducing Aden to the field, he passes the ball to one of his teammates who puts the ball into the back of the net, evening up the scores. The crowd erupts and Lexa claps extra hard with a smile on her face, happy that Aden contributed to the goal. Clarke can't help but feel some secondhand pride too.

The game kicks off again and there's ten minutes left which is plenty of time for the team to score another goal. Aden is running towards the goal, trying to fight off defenders, when he gets body checked and falls to the ground. Clarke expects to see an opposition player responsible for the foul on Aden, but it's actually one of his own teammates.

Lexa shouts at the referee, angry that Aden was unfairly pushed off the ball but the referee can only shrug in response. There's not much he can do considering they're on the same team. He can hardly award a free kick when the opposition did nothing wrong. Aden gets up from the ground and dusts himself off. He doesn't seem to be injured, just surprised by the impact.

"Who was the kid who pushed him?" Clarke asks a furious looking Lexa.

"That's Murphy's best friend." Murphy is sitting on the bench by the sidelines, looking smug, clearly happy with his friend's actions. "I'm going to go have a _discussion_ with Collins." Lexa starts marching around to the other side of the pitch. Clarke decides to hang back for a bit since the match has restarted. She keeps one eye on the game and another on Lexa who has pulled Finn away from the sideline to give him a piece of her mind. Clarke laughs at the downright terrified look on Finn's face as Lexa rips into him for letting his player get away with picking on Aden.

The game continues, but despite each teams best efforts, the score ends at 1 - 1. Clarke walks over to join Lexa, who has finished yelling at Finn, to go and see Aden. As Clarke gets closer she sees Lexa checking him over for any sign of injury.

"Great game, Aden," Clarke says as she reaches them. "Lexa wasn't exaggerating when she said how good you are." Aden doesn't respond but his lips twitch like he's trying to hold back a smile at her praise.

"Okay, there are no obvious signs of injury," Lexa assesses, "but tell me if you're sore anywhere and we'll put some ice on when we get home. Go to the showers and we'll wait for you." Lexa shoos him towards the changing rooms which are over near the car park. Aden picks up his bag and walks off to go get cleaned up.

"So, what did Finn say when you went over to scare the life out of him?" Clarke asks, throwing a smirk Lexa's way.

"He said that it was just 'boys being boys'." Lexa rolls her eyes, clearly annoyed but not surprised by that bullshit excuse. "I told him if I see Aden get hurt by any of his teammates again, that not only will I personally kick his ass, but I'll let Aden join their rival team. Coach Collins may be useless but he still doesn't like losing."

Lexa gestures her head in the direction of the changing rooms and they start heading over to wait for Aden.

"I used to love going to Octavia's soccer matches. Mainly for the after parties," Clarke jokes, "but the games were fun too."

Lexa smiles and is about to respond when her phone starts ringing. She checks to see who is calling and grimaces, "Sorry, Clarke, it's work. I wont be long." Lexa stays behind to answer the phone and Clarke continues on.

Clarke leans against one of the walls of the block which houses the locker rooms and waits patiently for ten or so minutes before Finn spots her and makes his way over.

"Clarke! What did you think of the match?" he asks, leaning his shoulder against the wall to face her and trying his best to look charming.

"It wasn't bad... except for the part where Aden got pushed over, obviously," Clarke replies with a slightly reproachful look.

"I didn't hear Aden complain," Finn jokes. Clarke's sure Lexa has filled him in on why Aden had missed practice and explained why he wasn't talking. Clarke pushes off the wall, feeling anger bubbling inside her.

"Is that your idea of a joke? If so, it's about as good as your nephew is at soccer." Finn goes to protest but Clarke doesn't want to hear any more out of this insensitive asshole. "Maybe next time you could try putting in your best player from the beginning and you'd be more successful than your lame attempt at flirting." With that, Clarke turns around to walk towards the car, when she sees that Aden and Lexa are there watching her. Lexa's eyes are wide in disbelief at hearing Clarke talk with such venom while Aden looks practically gleeful. Clarke smiles at them briefly before walking past them towards the car.

Clarke reaches the car first but has to wait for Lexa to open it before she can get in. When Lexa reaches the car she unlocks the boot, throwing Aden's bag in there.

"Aden," Lexa says, gaining the boy's attention, "What do you think?" she gestures towards Clarke with a grin. "Anyone who puts that idiot in his place has my approval. Does she have yours too?"

Aden pretends to think it over before walking over to Clarke and holding up his hand for a high five. Clarke laughs, happiness rushing through her body as she lifts her hand up to smack against Aden's.

"You may not have won, so it's not quite 'victory ice cream', but I think we all deserve it anyway," Lexa declares as they climb into the car.

Lexa starts the engine and Clarke can't help but let a satisfied smile grace her features. It seems like all of her worrying was for nothing. She can't wait to text Raven and Octavia with the good news.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks to those who commented! Feedback is very much appreciated. Thanks to anyone who took the time to read/leave kudos etc too.


	3. Chapter 3

Lexa wakes up with a start, her heart racing, another nightmare disturbing her sleep. Her hair is stuck to her face with sweat and her hands are twisted in her blankets from tossing around during her dreams. Lexa takes a few deep breaths before deciding to get a glass of water to help with her suddenly dry mouth.

As Lexa makes her way to the kitchen, she tries to shake the very real feelings left from her nightmare. In her dream, Aden had died along with her parents. In reality, Aden had been in the car crash with her parents a few weeks ago but had survived with nothing more than a few cuts and bruises from the accident. Her father died on impact while her mother didn't make it to the hospital, the blood loss too severe. It was a miracle that Aden survived, but one she was grateful for every day.

Real memories start flooding back into her mind and overtake the imaginary ones. The phone call Lexa had received that day flashes to the forefront. She doesn't remember the exact words, just the feeling that had taken over her body, the ache in her chest that seemed to encompass her whole body. When she had arrived at the hospital to see Aden, tears running down her face, she could hear him screaming before even reaching the room. Lexa had entered his room and tried to calm him down, but he'd just cried harder and the doctors had to sedate him. That day was the last time she heard a noise from him. 

After that day, Lexa put herself together as best as she could. She needed to be strong for Aden and in order to do that, she had to push her own pain aside. Lexa had always been good at choosing her head over her heart.

Lexa finishes pouring herself a glass of water straight from the tap and drinks the whole thing without stopping. She refills the glass before walking quietly over to Aden's room. It's just after 8am so she doubts he'll be awake, but she just needs to see him with her own eyes. It's the only thing that will calm her down.

She opens the door as quietly as possible to his room and she lets out a relieved breath at the sight of him sound asleep. Lexa's glad he's sleeping peacefully and doesn't appear to be having any dreams that mirror those of her own. She's just about to turn around and leave, when Aden turns over and stretches, blinking sleepily as he checks the time on his alarm clock beside the bed.

"Morning, sleepyhead," she says, announcing her presence to the groggy looking boy.

Aden snaps his head up at the unexpected sound, his eyes confused for a moment before he grabs the pillow under his head and chucks it at her. The pillow doesn't even make it to her feet and Lexa shakes her head at his aim.

"You better stick to soccer." Lexa laughs before walking over and placing her glass of water on his nightstand. She makes a show of stretching all of her muscles before looking over at Aden with a wicked glint in her eye. It's with a loud war-cry that she jumps on top of Aden on the bed, tickling him a few times and getting a smile out of him despite his attempts at stopping her hands. Lexa moves to lay down next to him, even though it's only a single bed and rests her hands behind her head.

"We should think about getting you more things for your room," Lexa assesses with her eyes wandering around the room, which is bare except for the bed and a dresser. "You need a desk for all the homework you'll be doing," she says while smirking at Aden who rolls his eyes. "We should go and pick some things out today, since I won't have as much time after going back to work tomorrow. It might be a good idea to go to the house and get some things too," Lexa adds softly, cautiously. 

Aden's face hardens in response and she knows he'll refuse to go to their parents house with her. She's only been back there once and that was out of necessity as Aden had needed clothes and some items for school. Thinking of going back there leaves her uneasy but she knows she needs to. There are more clothes there that she couldn't fit in the bag last time and she wants to check the house itself is okay. 

Her parents had left everything to Lexa and Aden, but he didn't have access to much until he turned 21. The thought had occurred to her that she should just sell the house and put the money towards a future for Aden or to buy somewhere new for them to live, since the apartment they were in now wasn't really a home. Selling the house might make some sense financially but that decision didn't sit easy with her, neither did the thought of actually living there. Lexa shakes her head slightly to get rid of those thoughts, she can worry about all of that another time.

"You don't have to come with me to the house," she sighs, "I'll go myself. We do need to go grocery shopping though. Also, I know you're a bit young, a lot younger than I was, but I think we should get you a mobile phone. I want you to be able to text me if you need anything while I'm at work." Aden's face perks up a bit at the possibilty of getting his very own phone. "Don't get too excited. I'm not getting you an iPhone or you'll end up playing games day and night." Lexa fixes him with a knowing look, not that she can blame him, those games can be highly addictive.  
She'd had to ask Anya to delete 'Words with Friends' from her phone because her extensive vocabulary and competitive nature meant she had spent way too much time attached to her phone.

Lexa stretches one last time before climbing out of bed. "I'm going to make us some breakfast and then I'll get ready. We'll go shopping later this afternoon, okay?" 

She receives a thumbs up in return and then heads into the kitchen to see what she can rustle up for breakfast. Lexa makes a mental note to text Clarke later to see what her favorite snacks are so she can add them to her shopping list. 

***

Clarke has been receiving text messages every half an hour since noon. It's Monday, Clarke's first day on the job. 

Clarke rolls her eyes as she reads Lexa's latest text message.

**LEXA - Have you left yet?**

Clarke looks at the top of her phone's window to see it's 2:30pm.

**CLARKE - School doesn't finish for another half an hour. It's only a fifteen minute drive.**

**LEXA - Do you have an aversion to being early to places, Clarke?**

**CLARKE - I like to be on time. You should appreciate the efficiency of not wasting any valuable minutes.**

**CLARKE - I'm leaving now, okay?**

**LEXA - Thank you. Text me when you get to the apartment.**

Clarke is only slightly offended that Lexa texted her to make sure she was awake and remembered what time/place to pick Aden up. Lexa strikes her as a bit of a control freak which would usually irritate her but she reminds herself it's only because she cares so much about her brother and Clarke can't really seem to hold that against her.

She picks up her art folder that houses the majority of her comic to take with her. The pages have been scanned as a backup but Clarke prefers to have the originals with her when she works. She figures she might as well bring it with her and work on it if she gets the chance. Clarke pats her pockets to make sure she has her phone and keys before heading out the door.

The drive to school is blessedly hassle free and Clarke makes it there just before 2:45. She decides to park up and walk over to the front of the building so she'll be easy to spot. The bell rings at exactly 3pm and Clarke is relieved because she spies a group of women giving her a once over, probably judging her faded jeans and band t-shirt. 

Five minutes later, Aden comes bouncing down the steps with a blonde girl who is talking next to him animatedly. He doesn't respond to the other girl but he watches her with rapt attention that show he's listening intently. They reach the end of the steps, not far from where Clarke is standing and she calls out to gain his attention. Aden follows the voice and locks eyes with Clarke. The blonde girl next to him spots Clarke too and says something to Aden before waving at him and continuing on.

"Hey," Clarke smiles as Aden walks over to her, "your friend was pretty cute." Aden doesn't respond except to avert his eyes to the floor and she tries not to laugh at the blush spreading across his cheeks. "Let's go."

When they get to the apartment, Aden reaches into his backpack and pulls out the key to let them in. Clarke fishes her phone out of her pocket and is surprised to see Lexa hasn't sent her any more messages.

"Your sister has texted me non-stop all day. She'll have a meltdown if I don't update her that you're home safely. Should we send her some evidence?"

Clarke walks over to Aden and holds out the phone above them to take a selfie. Aden isn't smiling at the camera so Clarke matches his look and looks equally unimpressed.

"What's that smell?" Clarke notices the burnt smell as she enters the apartment further.

Aden gestures over to a book that's left on the kitchen counter, 'Cooking for Beginners' and then points over to the sink where there's a charred looking pan.

"Lexa?" She questions. Aden nods and Clarke laughs heartily before shooting a text to Lexa.

**CLARKE - [picture attached] Here's proof that we're home and Aden is fine. If you paid half as much attention to detail as the texts you've sent me all day, maybe your attempt at cooking would have gone better.**

"Okay, I'm going to hang out in the living room. Feel free to join me or hang out in your room. If you have any homework, then, you know, do that," Clarke says a bit awkwardly, trying not to sound too authoritarian. "Just leave the door open if you're in your room so I know you're okay." Aden picks up his school bag and walks towards his room. Clarke tries not to be too disappointed that he chose to go to his room instead of stay there with her.

Her phone dings with a new message from Lexa.

**LEXA - Very funny, Clarke. I'll be home at 6:30.**

Clarke walks into the living area, putting her phone and art folder on the table. There's a generous sized sofa and an armchair with a decent sized tv against the wall. She decides to set herself up on the couch so that there's enough room to place her drawings beside her, without having to lean forward to pick them up from the coffee table.

An hour or so later and Clarke is surrounded by scrunched up pieces of paper. She looks around at the mess and decides to take a break. Clarke picks up the bits of paper and heads to the kitchen to throw them away. While she's there, she decides a snack won't hurt. 

The fridge is well stocked. Lexa had texted Clarke yesterday to ask her if there was anything specific she would like her to buy. Clarke had promptly responded with 'everything and anything'. Like her sexuality, Clarke approached food with equal opportunism. She grabs a couple bottles of water before opening the cupboard. The cupboard is just as well stocked as the fridge, leaving Clarke fairly impressed at the amount of food available despite there only being two people living there. She grabs a couple of snack-sized bags of flavored chips and heads over to Aden's room.

"Hey," Clarke knocks lightly on the bedroom door and gestures to the items in her hands. "I was getting myself a snack and thought I'd bring you some too." Aden is laying on his stomach while reading a textbook on the bed. 

"I'll just leave them here." Clarke places a bottle of water and bag of chips on top of the dresser, keen to give him space and not appear too smothering. She walks out the room and plants herself back on the couch, hoping some food will kick-start her brain into producing some better ideas. 

After finishing her food and washing it down with some water, Clarke attempts to get back to work, but there's something irking her. She taps her pencil against the paper and it's the sound that highlights how quiet it is in the apartment. Maybe some music would help her get into the zone. She opens up the music app on her phone and makes sure it's not set too loud before pressing play.

The music fills the room but it's one of her playlists that is filled mostly with soft, acoustic songs and it's easy to work along to. Ideas start coming easier to her now and Clarke's singing along to the music without realizing she's doing so. She gets that feeling of being watched and looks behind her to see Aden eating his chips while looking amused by Clarke's singing.

"Did I disturb you?" she asks, pausing the music and realizing studying can't be easy with her singing. "I was having a bit of a 'creative block' and put the music on without thinking."

Aden arches his eyebrow in question before walking over to see what Clarke is working on. He places his empty chip packet on the table and brushes his hands against his shirt before picking up one of the crumpled pieces of paper on the floor. Aden unfolds it and she sees it's a picture of the space station which she had decided to re-draw.

"I'm writing a comic," she explains. 

Aden takes a seat next to her to get a closer look at what she's currently working on. It's a drawing of one of the Grounders. "It's about people living in space who come down to earth. This guy here," she looks down at the bearded man who is dressed in armor and war paint, "and his people, were the only ones living on the ground until some kids were sent down from space." His eyes scan over her drawing and take in all of the details as she tries to explain the basic concept of her story. She's never actually explained it to anyone before, not even to her friends or family, her insecurities preventing Clarke from sharing it until it's finished. 

Aden reaches for her folder on the coffee table which holds more of the comic. Her first instinct is to stop him from looking, but his face seems so genuinely intrigued, that she doesn't have the heart to do so. Before opening the folder, he looks over at Clarke, seemingly asking for permission.

"I haven't shown these to anyone before, so I'm a bit nervous, but it will be good to share them. I have to get used to the idea of others seeing my work eventually," Clarke assures with a smile. 

Aden starts to carefully go through the drawings, handling them with so much care that Clarke trusts him enough to look without supervision while she continues with the drawing in front of her. 

They stay that way, sitting side by side in their own worlds, until the door of the apartment opens, signaling Lexa's arrival. Aden closes the folder and places it back on the table before relaxing back against the couch casually. 

"Hey, how was your day?" Clarke asks as Lexa puts her things down on the counter.

"Long," Lexa sighs as she walks over to join them on the couch. She sits at the end and take her shoes off before picking her legs up and putting them over Aden's. He shoves her legs off playfully and Lexa laughs before resting them on the coffee table instead. 

"How was your day, Clarke? Did my baby brother behave himself?" Lexa asks in return while jokingly making pinching motions at Aden's cheeks.

"Aden was perfectly well behaved. It's hard to believe you two are related," Clarke replies with a smile.

"I don't know what you're insinuating, Clarke. I'm always well behaved." Clarke has to stop herself from arching her eyebrow and responding with a dirty joke. Remember, she's your boss, Griffin. 

"Usually, I might argue that, but I just remembered you're a _lawyer._ " Clarke starts packing up her things so she can leave them both to the rest of their night. 

Lexa gets up to walk her out and opens the door for her. "Thanks for today. I'll try not to send as many texts tomorrow."

"That would be appreciated. Bye, Aden," Clarke calls behind her and receives a wave in response which she counts as a win. "See you tomorrow, Lexa." 

Clarke smiles to herself as she walks out of the apartment, pleased with how the first day went. Her goal for today was to be on time for picking Aden up and to get some drawing done as a bonus. Since she accomplished both of those things, Clarke thinks it was a pretty successful day.

***

The next day arrives and, as promised, Lexa only sends her the one text to remind Clarke that Aden has soccer practice, which finishes at 4:30pm. Clarke decides to actually go and watch Aden's practice, just to make sure that Murphy kid doesn't do anything. The practice is held on the same pitch as the games themselves but closer to the bleachers. Clarke and her feet are thankful for this, though she supposes she could have sat on the ground. 

Clarke walks towards the bleachers but gets Aden's attention before taking her seat to let him know she's there. He smiles briefly at her in acknowledgement, before carrying on with the task set by Coach Collins. She texts Lexa to let her know she's at practice and she gets a reply saying to expect her home around 7. 

Clarke decided not to bring her comic with her today, opting to bring a notebook and pen, letting her mind draw whatever took her fancy. It felt good sometimes to draw just for the sake of it, without any pressure. The white noise of the soccer practice is soothing and the weather is pleasantly warm, leaving Clarke content in her bubble. Before she knows it, Aden is in front of her, sweating and guzzling water like there's no tomorrow. 

"Ready to go?" Aden nods and grabs his bag before following Clarke to go home. 

They get in the car and Clarke rolls down the window, the smell of a sweaty teenage boy isn't exactly her choice of vehicle fragrance.

"No offense, but shower as soon as you get home," Clarke says to Aden who isn't offended and nods once in agreement. 

When they arrive at the apartment, Aden goes straight to the bathroom and Clarke walks to the kitchen to prepare him a snack. She decides on a fruit salad, thinking healthy is the way to go after the work out he just had and it's only a couple of hours before dinner time. 

Once Aden has showered and changed, he joins her in the kitchen. He sits on the bar-stool while Clarke stands against the counter, both of them picking at the fruit. Clarke decides to spice things up and tosses one of the grapes she just picked up into the air, neatly catching it in her mouth. She slowly throws the other one towards Aden, but her aim is slightly off, so instead of catching it with his mouth, it lands in his hand. 

"Good catch," Clarke praises. "I know I started it, but with my aim, it's probably not a game we should be playing."

They eat the rest of the fruit in comfortable silence and once they're finished, Aden goes to his room but leaves the door open per her previous request. Clarke washes up and decides to watch some TV. 

A couple of hours pass by and Aden walks into the room, plopping himself down onto the couch next to her. Her eyes are about to drift back to the show that's on when she hears Aden's stomach rumbling. She looks at her phone and sees it's 7:15pm, Lexa is late.

**CLARKE - Is it okay if I make some dinner? Aden seems pretty hungry.**

**LEXA - I'm so sorry, Clarke. I'll be home in half an hour. If it's not too much trouble, then yes, please make something for Aden.**

"Lexa is running a bit late, so I'm going to make dinner," Clarke announces as she walks over to the fridge, assessing the contents and deciding what she should make. She remembers seeing some noodles in the cupboard the day before and notes there's more than enough vegetables for a decent stir fry. 

Aden decides to sit on the bar-stool and watch her cook which prompts Clarke to start talking like she's on some cooking channel. 

"First, we have to chop the vegetables into even pieces." 

***  
Lexa had every intention of being home at 7pm. The problem wasn't her intentions, but her boss, Nia Queen's. The woman is ruthless and if she was having a bad day, she made sure everyone else suffered the same fate. She tries to shake off her annoyance at work, not wanting to bring that kind of baggage home with her. 

Lexa opens the door and the smell of food makes her mouth begin to water, only now realizing just how hungry she is after having to work through her lunch break. 

"Something smells good," Lexa says, placing her shoes and bag down by the door. 

"Hey, you're home!" Clarke smiles brightly at her from the stove where she's moving something around in the pan. "I hope you like stir fry. Oh, and I hope those kitchen privileges you promised apply to staying for dinner."

"If the food tastes as good as it smells, you have my blessing." Lexa smiles and walks over to Aden, putting her arm around his shoulders in greeting. "Sorry I'm late." It's almost 8pm by now.

"Lexa, is it normal for 12 year old boys to be so well behaved? I didn't even have to ask him to set the table. I'm worried that if I have my own kids some day, my standards will be too high." A surge of affection for her brother goes through her body at Clarke's words.

"Aden is special," she answers, ruffling his hair because she can't resist. "It's also a family trait." Clarke snorts in reply but doesn't actually argue.

Lexa walks around the counter, pulling out a couple of wine glasses. "Would you like some wine, Clarke? I need a drink after today." She could probably do with the whole bottle to be honest. 

"That would be great," Clarke replies and starts plating up three plates of food. 

Lexa pours the wine and is hit with how weird it is that it _doesn't_ feel weird. She's had a few girlfriends over the years, but she has never felt as domestic as she does in this very moment. That thought alone is enough for her to take a big gulp of her wine. 

Clarke finishes dishing out the food and Lexa helps her with the plates before bringing their wine over to the table as well. Aden grabs his bottle of water and hops off the stool to join them. It's almost like they've been doing this for years instead of days. Lexa decides not to overthink it and puts it down to Clarke's ability to put everyone around her at ease.

"This looks amazing. Thank you, Clarke."

Aden wastes no time in shoveling the food into his mouth and Lexa feels a pang of guilt that she wasn't home earlier to make dinner. Lexa follows suit and as soon as she tastes the stir fry lets out a small, almost groan like, moan. She's immediately embarrassed but one look at Clarke's pleased smile shows her that the vocal approval of her food is appreciated.

"This is really good. Best stir fry ever," Lexa announces after a few more bites. It may be a slight exaggeration, but it honestly is great and hunger always makes everything taste better. Aden nods his head in agreement and Clarke's smile lights up the room. "Have you always been a good cook?"

"Not exactly." Clarke swallows her food before answering properly, "My Mom started working a lot more...once it was just the two of us at home and I learned how to cook out of necessity. It started with simple things and then I realized that it was something I actually enjoyed doing. It was when I was in college that I really started experimenting and learning how to cook a variety of things." Lexa gestures for Clarke to continue, interested in hearing more about the other girl. "Octavia was always hungry after soccer practice and Raven loves food more than anyone I know, so she would eat whatever I put in front of her. They were really great about trying everything I made and constructive if they didn't like it."

"That's great. I'm jealous, I'd love to be able to cook half as well as this," Lexa points to the dish with her fork. 

"I can always teach you a few simple dishes, if you want?" Clarke offers. "I worry for Aden's safety, to be honest." Clarke smiles at Aden, a smile which is returned. Lexa wonders how they've become so comfortable with each other in such a short amount of time but decides not to question it, just pleased everything seems to be working out.

"I'm going to ignore the dig at my lack of cooking skills and accept your offer."

"How about we cook something together on Friday? That way, if there's leftovers, at least I'll know Aden will be fed one out of the two days that I won't be around to save him." Clarke sends her a smirk that she should find annoying, but Lexa can only laugh at her teasing.

"Deal." 

Once they finish dinner, Aden helps them clear the table and Lexa refuses to let Clarke do the dishes, ordering her to sit and finish her wine. Aden wanders off to his room while Clarke decides to sit on the bar-stool and talk to her while she washes up. 

"How was work?" 

"Honestly? Awful. My boss is a bit of a nightmare," Lexa answers.

"I know the feeling," Clarke jokes and Lexa sends her a glare over her shoulder. 

"The case I'm working on now is for one of our biggest clients and my boss is hovering over my shoulder, waiting for me to slip up."

"Why would she be waiting for you to make a mistake?"

Lexa sighs. "I got a promotion over her daughter. The senior partners have to vote when it comes to promotions, so it's fair. If she had her way, I would never have been picked."

"You're right, she sounds like a bitch." 

"Well, she's the boss, so I kind of have to take it right now, otherwise she'll find an excuse to get me fired." 

"I get that she's your superior, but don't let her bully you, Lexa."

"It's nothing I can't handle," Lexa says, as she places the last of the dishes on the rack to dry and wipes her hands clean.

"If you say so, Boss," Clarke smiles to let her know that the subject is dropped, for now.

"Anyway, it helps that I have someone to look after Aden. Knowing that he's being taken care of by someone who has his best interests at heart makes it easier to deal with whatever happens while I'm at work. One less thing to worry about." Lexa smiles gratefully at Clarke, doing her best to articulate the weight that is lifted by having someone she can rely on.

Clarke drains the rest of her wine before getting up from the stool and stepping closer to Lexa. "I'm here for you too, you know, not just Aden. I'm no expert, but I don't think there's any rules in the babysitter handbook against us being friends, separate from our business agreement." Clarke finishes her point by squeezing Lexa's shoulder briefly, then turning to grab her things.

Lexa doesn't know what to say. The brief touch from Clarke had filled her body with warmth, but she can't let her thoughts go down that road. Instead of saying anything, she walks Clarke over to the door and thanks her again.

"Thank you for tonight, the food _and_ and the talk. Goodnight, Clarke."

"Goodnight, Lexa."

Thank you again to those who have left comments. I read them multiple times as motivation to continue. Thanks to anyone else reading, hope you enjoy.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you again to those who have left comments. I read them multiple times as motivation to continue. Thanks to anyone else reading, hope you enjoy :)


	4. Chapter 4

Friday afternoon sees Lexa attempting to get through her meeting without any hiccups so that she'll be able to leave the office on time. Clarke is keeping her promise to teach her how to cook and Lexa thinks the least she can do is try not to be too late home. 

The meeting is with Costia, a lawyer working for one of their rival law firms. Lexa is trying hard to negotiate a deal on behalf of her client, who wants to buy Costia's client's company. She has only met Costia on one other occasion and that was a year ago when Lexa was watching one of her colleagues in court. The more time she spends in this meeting, the more she learns that Costia is one hell of a tough negotiator, which is making progress difficult.

"We're going round in circles. Talk to your client and explain that the deal we're offering is more than reasonable," Lexa argues while leaning back in her chair, folding her hands over the table in front of her and fixing Costia, who is sitting opposite her in the board room, with a fierce stare.

"We're going around in circles because your client thinks he's going to buy my client's company for a pittance, just because they're having financial struggles. The business potential in the company is far greater than what you're offering." 

"It will take my client months, possibly years, of hard to work to get the business back into profit," Lexa throws back, frustrated the woman in front of her won't see reason.

"We've received other offers that are much higher than what you're proposing here. The only reason I'm meeting with you is because my client is stubborn and he doesn't want his company to sold to someone who will run it into the ground." Costia leans forward before fixing Lexa with an intimidating stare. "If you don't raise your offer, this deal is over before it's even begun."

_Shit._

"Give me the weekend to talk to my client and we'll meet again on Monday," Lexa offers, begrudgingly.

"You can have the weekend as long as you come up with a better offer," Costia replies and Lexa nods in return. "Great, well, I'll see you on Monday."

"I'll walk you to the elevator," Lexa says politely, always professional.

They walk through the empty halls together, most people having left already with it being a Friday. When they reach the elevator, she presses the button for the ground floor.

"Would you like to join me for a drink?" Costia asks her and Lexa is so deep in her thoughts that she has to ask her to repeat herself. "A drink? Would you like to have a drink together?"

"Oh. I can't," Lexa stumbles, Clarke's face flashing through her mind, "I have somewhere I need to be."

"How about," Costia's voice drops down an octave, "when our negotiations are over, the winner has to buy the other a drink." 

"But it's a business deal? This isn't a trial, how will we know who the winner is?"

"We'll know," Costia answers coyly with a wink.

Lexa takes a moment to think before answering. Costia is very attractive and of course, Lexa knows, smart. There isn't really a reason for her to decline and the competitive streak she has makes up her mind for her.

"You have yourself a deal." 

Costia beams at her answer and gets into the elevator. "Have a good night, Lexa."

***

The last couple of days have been great for Clarke. She hadn't been late to pick up Aden from school all week and he's been such a good kid, that she'd been able to get a lot of work done on her comic. Clarke had found herself looking forward to tonight more and more as it approached. She had never really shared her cooking skills with anyone else before, Octavia and Raven usually left her to it and magically reappeared when everything was ready. 

Clarke checks the time on her phone and sees it's almost 5:30pm. Lexa had said she would try to be home for 6:30pm which means she has an hour left to procrastinate. Her sketchbook is resting on the coffee table where she abandoned it an hour ago, too excited about cooking tonight to get any real drawing done. She had attempted to watch TV and find something to keep her entertained, but nothing seemed to stick for long.

"Hey," she says, seeing Aden shuffle into the room, "did you finish your homework?"

Aden nods and if this was anyone else, she'd question it. Clarke hadn't once had to tell him to do his homework as he always did it as soon as he got home. If he finished before Lexa got home then he would come and join her on the couch. Aden loved to look at her drawings and read her comic. Clarke was happy to let him, enjoying the companionship while she worked.

"Want to help me find something to watch?" Clarke hands him the remote as he takes the seat next to her on the couch.

She expects him to choose something on a kids channel or maybe a scripted comedy, but when the Discovery Channel appears on screen, Clarke is taken aback. It seems to be some kind of underwater documentary and it's only been on for a few moments, but one look at Aden's face and you can tell he's already engrossed. Clarke takes her phone out of her pocket and starts texting furiously.

**CLARKE - Your brother is watching a documentary. This isn't normal.**

**LEXA - It's educational, Clarke. Better than the trash I caught you watching when I got home last night.**

**CLARKE - Hell's Kitchen isn't trash! Gordon Ramsay is a genius and watching him swear at people is so much fun.**

**LEXA - You can't see, but I'm rolling my eyes.**

**CLARKE - That's what emojis are for.**

**LEXA - I don't use emojis.**

**CLARKE - So, not only do you have terrible taste in TV and can't cook, you don't use emojis, which make text conversations way more entertaining?**

**LEXA - Only one of those is a valid shortcoming, Clarke.**

**CLARKE - There's giant squids on the screen, they're terrifying. Will you be home soon so I can stop suffering? [prayer hands emoji]**

**LEXA - Squids are highly interesting creatures, you could learn a thing or two from them. I'm just about to leave the office now.**

Clarke doesn't dignify Lexa's text with a response, scoffing at the insinuation she isn't as interesting as a damn squid. She puts her phone away and reluctantly returns her attention to the documentary.

"Remind me to never swim in the ocean again," she tells Aden, genuinely worried that these things live in the same water she has swam in before. 

Clarke's mind begins to wander as she takes in the images of terrifying underwater creatures. Maybe she could work one of these into her comic? They may not scare Aden and Lexa, but she's convinced the average person would be scared, just as she is. The kids from space aren't anywhere near the ocean in her comic, though. However, they do find a lake...so maybe one of them could get chased by something in the water, that would be some good drama. She picks up her notebook and starts sketching some ideas.

Clarke has a few basic drawings done by the time Lexa gets home. She had started drawing a squid but it didn't come across terrifying enough, so she had gone with something a bit more eel/anaconda-like. 

"This is one of my favorites, good choice, Aden," Lexa says as she leans forward over the back of the sofa to see what they're watching. Aden barely acknowledges her, eyes glued to the massive shark that has just appeared. "I'm just going to shower and change so I don't get anything on my work clothes."

"Okay," Clarke smiles up at her before continuing her sketch.

"Not bad," Lexa gestures down at her drawing, "but it needs bigger and sharper teeth if you want it to seem more accurate." 

"Noted. Hurry up and change so we can start cooking, I'm starving."

Lexa follows Clarke's advice while she starts adding Lexa's suggestions to her drawing. Once she's satisfied, Clarke stands up to go to the kitchen and gets out the things they'll be needing. She had gone shopping this afternoon to get the ingredients Lexa didn't have.

Clarke is just pulling out a pan (a brand new one that Lexa had purchased the day before, since she had to throw out the last one), when Lexa comes out of her room. Her hair is tied up in a bun so that it's away from her face and she's wearing a sweater with shorts that highlight just how toned her legs are. It's not the first time Clarke has appreciated how attractive Lexa is, but there's so much skin on display that it takes her a bit longer than usual to avert her eyes.

"What are we cooking?" Lexa asks, coming to stand next to her at the kitchen counter and casting her eyes over the items Clarke has laid out in preparation.

"Spaghetti Bolognese. It's pretty basic and something _everyone_ should be able to make." The documentary has finished and Aden has turned the TV off in favor of coming to watch them cook. "Have you come to supervise the disaster that is your sister?" Aden smirks and nods.

"You're supposed to be on my side," Lexa scowls. 

"Okay, let's start by filling a pot with water and put it on to boil, then we can chop the vegetables." Clarke hands Lexa the pot and instructs her to fill it a couple of inches from the top.

Clarke sets up the chopping board and decides to start Lexa off with cutting mushrooms, which is fairly easy. 

"Lexa," Clarke laughs, watching Lexa attempt to cut up the mushroom without even holding it still, "that's not gonna work. Let me show you how to chop properly."

Clarke molds herself to Lexa's side and places her hand over hers to make sure the mushroom won't move.

"You need to hold it, but make sure your fingers aren't near where you're cutting. Now, chop slowly. You don't have to be Gordon Ramsay, just make sure you don't lose any fingers and you make even slices and that's good enough." 

Clarke is trying really hard to focus on directing her instead of analyzing the feel of Lexa's hand that she's still holding in place. It doesn't help that her hand is soft and she smells good from the shower she just had. Clarke shakes her head and takes a step back, putting some space between them.

The rest of the cooking goes well apart from when Lexa has to cut the onion and her eyes watered so much that Clarke had to take over. Aden had snuck bits of carrot whilst observing them and while he ate the majority, he shared a couple with Clarke, too. She marveled at how quickly they all seemed to be comfortable in each others presence.

"Aden, could you set the table for us? It's almost ready," Clarke asks while watching over Lexa's shoulder as she stirs the sauce.

"I can keep stirring if you'd like to pour us some wine, Clarke?" 

"Good idea." Clarke pours them both a glass of red wine and some lemonade for Aden (she had noticed it was his preferred drink when eating). The spaghetti is done, so she takes it out to drain it over the sink.

"You can turn off the stove now and come plate up," Clarke says to Lexa who is staring so intently at the sauce, as if she looks away it might all go wrong. She puts spaghetti on three plates and lets Lexa put the sauce on top. 

"Cheese is the most important part," Clarke says before beckoning Aden over. "Aden, come and put the cheese on top." Aden's eyes light up at being asked to be involved and he adds generous amounts of cheese to each dish. "Perfect. Let's eat!"

They all sit down and Clarke is genuinely surprised with how good it looks. She gets up to grab her phone from the coffee table and comes back to take a picture of the spaghetti.

"Lexa, hold up your creation," Clarke says with her phone's camera pointed in her direction. "Aden, get in the picture." He gets up to stand behind Lexa's chair and gives her a double thumbs up. 

Clarke puts her phone away and they all start eating. The first bite she takes bursts with flavor and a sense of pride washes over her. 

"Clarke, I can't believe we made this. It tastes _so_ good." 

"I just pointed you in the right direction, it was mostly you," Clarke praises. "What would you give it out of ten, Aden?" He pretends to think it over before holding both hands up in a '10'. 

"We should make this a weekly thing," Lexa says while taking a sip of her wine. "If that's something you'd like and you have the time?"

"Really?" Clarke asks, trying to keep the hope in her voice to a minimum.

"Yeah, of course. I think it would be useful to know more about cooking and you're a very good teacher, Clarke."

"Thanks." Clarke takes a sip of her wine to try and hide her blush at the compliment. "You're not a terrible student."

They continue to eat dinner while making light conversation about their days and Lexa asks Aden if he's looking forward to his soccer match tomorrow. It goes by way too quickly and Clarke feels a bit disappointed that she'll be leaving soon. It's decided that Aden can wash up their plates while Clarke washes up the bigger stuff, not wanting him to do it all himself. 

"How about we play a board game after you two have finished washing up?" Lexa asks.

"It depends on which board game you pick," Clarke answers, while scrubbing at a particularly stubborn spot on the pan she's washing.

"I was thinking Scrabble?" 

Aden nods eagerly and Clarke is immediately suspicious.

"I'm not sure I want to play a spelling game with two nerds."

"We'll go easy on you, won't we, Aden?" The boy in question smiles at Clarke way too innocently to be believable.

"Fine, but I have a feeling I'll regret this."

***  
Clarke does end up regret playing scrabble with the two of them.

"What kind of word is axolotl, anyway?" Clarke questions.

"It's an amphibian," she answers, trying to hold back a smirk. They'd been playing for a little over an hour and Clarke had been complaining the whole way through. Aden didn't have quite the vast vocabulary as Lexa did, but he was wise about choosing where to place his words for maximum points. 

"Why do I have three of the same letter? It's unfair," Clarke whines, while trying to put together a word for her turn. She and Aden share a smile, both of them amused by Clarke's plight. 

"Clarke, 'haaa' isn't a word," Lexa points out.

"Okay, but, I have three A's left and then I'm out of letters. Plus 'haaa' is someone laughing for a long time, so, it _is_ a word."

Lexa decides to let it slide since there's no way Clarke will win, even though it goes against her natural instincts to follow the rules. Aden has already had his final turn and is all out of letters, so it's down to her to finish the game. As she analyzes the board she sees two options. Option one is a simple word that would be 10 points but not enough to catch Aden who is 12 points ahead. Option two involves the same word but using a 'triple letter' square that would award her 14 points. 

She places her word down on the board and turns to Aden. "Only 10 points. Looks like you're the winner." She holds her hand out for a high five and Clarke does the same. The look of joy on his face is more than worth it. 

"I'm sad, though not surprised, that I lost," Clarke says, "but at least you didn't win."

"It's okay, there's always next Friday," Lexa replies with a smug smile and Clarke groans.

"I think it's time I go, my brain is fried from watching documentaries and trying to thwart you two at scrabble."

"I'll walk you out." Lexa is sad to see Clarke go, realizing she won't see the other girl again until Monday.

"See you on Monday, Aden. Kick butt tomorrow!" Clarke says, waving to him as she walks towards the door. Lexa grabs an envelope from her bag and follows. "You don't have to walk me to my car Lexa, it's not that late." Lexa doesn't answer, just continues to lead Clarke out of the building.

"Here," Lexa says as they reach the car, "your wages for the week. I added extra for tonight, too."

"Lexa," Clarke scolds, "I didn't offer to teach you how to cook so I could earn some extra cash."

"I know, Clarke. Think of it as a tip and an investment in my own cooking skills." Clarke huffs in front of her and she really shouldn't be thinking about how adorable she looks.

"Thank you. I'll see you Monday?"

"Yes. Have a good weekend, Clarke."

"You too."

Clarke places the money in her bag and steps into her car. Lexa waves and watches her drive away, before heading back to the apartment and trying not to notice how quiet it is without Clarke there.

***

The next day, Clarke goes to Octavia's apartment that she shares with Lincoln, to hang out with her and Raven. 

"Princess, about time," Raven shouts from the couch next to Octavia, as Clarke walks through the front door. 

"Nice to see you too, Raven. Hey, Octavia," she greets them both, taking a seat opposite them on the other sofa. "Where's Lincoln?"

"He's gone to the gym so we have time to catch up and he promised to bring us back some pizza." 

"I knew there was reason I set you two up," Raven says, eyes lighting up at the mention of pizza.

Octavia rolls her eyes, not bothering to argue _again_ about how her and Lincoln got together. 

"How's it going with Lexa?" Octavia changes the subject. 

Clarke's about to answer when her phone dings with a new message alert.

"Speak of the devil," Clarke says.

**LEXA - Aden just scored the winning goal! His team won 2-1.**

Clarke beams while reading the message and types back a quick reply to tell Lexa to pass on her congratulations.

"Oh my god," Raven laughs, "do you have a crush on her already?"

"What? No?" Clarke is confused by Raven's accusation.

"Then why are you reading your texts with that ridiculous smile on your face?" 

"Lexa was just letting me know that Aden scored a goal during his soccer match...so I'm...happy?" Clarke explains slowly.

"Let me get this straight, no pun intended, Lexa just casually texts you even when you're not working?" Raven questions and Octavia looks equally interested in Clarke's answer.

"Well, during dinner last night, I asked her to update me if anything happened during the match, since last week was a bit difficult for Aden."

"During _dinner_?" This time it's Octavia questioning Clarke.

"Yeah, dinner. I'm teaching Lexa how to cook." Raven and Octavia look at each other once, before bursting out laughing. "Why are you guys laughing?"

"We didn't realize you had become a wife," Raven says, trying to control her breathing after all the laughing.

"Shut up," Clarke throws her cushion at them. "She's my boss and she's a been through a tough time, so I just want to help. I don't have a crush. Besides, I don't even know if she likes girls."

"She does," Octavia answers. "I overheard Anya telling Lincoln that she was happy Lexa broke up with her girlfriend a few months ago because she couldn't stand her." Clarke tries not to visibly react to this information even though the knowledge Lexa is at least open to dating girls has Clarke's heart beating slightly faster.

"What does she look like? I'm the only one who hasn't met her," Raven asks, looking at Clarke.

"She's slightly taller than me. Her hair is brown and silky, which looks really good in braids. Then again, it looks good down, too. She has the greenest eyes you've ever seen, like an emerald color. Her body is so toned, I'm jealous. Oh and her _lips_ , they look so soft and pink..." Clarke tapers off, suddenly aware that she was describing Lexa in a bit _too_ much detail.

"Sure, Clarke, you don't have a crush at all." Raven looks at Octavia, "$50 says they're banging before the end of the year."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Wow, thank you for all of the feedback! I always worry once I post a chapter that nobody will like it, so it's really appreciated. Thanks to everyone reading and hope you're all having a good weekend :)
> 
> Ps any law knowledge I have is from watching Suits and shouldn't be taken seriously.


	5. Chapter 5

"Sorry, I had a minor work emergency," Lexa says, hastily taking her seat in front of an impatient looking Anya. 

"I've been waiting for twenty minutes and I had to order a coffee so the bitchy waitress would leave me alone," Anya replies, unimpressed with her for being so late for their lunch date.

"I couldn't help it, I'm sorry. Lunch is on me, okay?" Anya just folds her arms and Lexa thinks she'll have to sweeten the deal further. "The next _two_ lunches are on me and you have my deepest apologies for keeping you waiting," she offers.

"Deal. So, how are you? I haven't seen you in almost three weeks since you went back to work."

"I'm good, thanks. It's just been a bit hectic with work and making sure Aden is okay."

The waitress comes over to take their orders and Lexa uses the time to get out of work mode. She's only got an hour to have lunch with Anya but she's determined to make it count. They used to catch up more often during the week, but Aden has taken priority over everything else, for now.

"Since we have limited time, let's start with the most essential questions," Anya starts, fixing her with a look that says the questions are likely to be the type Lexa doesn't actually want to answer. "How's your love life?"

"Anya," she whines. Lexa had sworn off dating after her last girlfriend cheated on her.

"Lexa, it's been months. You need to get back out there."

She debates the pros and cons of telling Anya about Costia's offer for after work drinks. It would likely lead to more questioning, but it could stop the nagging about her love life and she was planning to ask her to watch Aden if she did go out anyway.

"Actually, a lawyer for one of our rival firms did ask me out for a drink, but I had to decline."

"Was she not attractive?" Anya asks.

"She's very attractive."

"Oh, is she not very bright?"

"No, she's highly intelligent."

"Lexa," Anya says, trying her hardest to be patient, "why on earth did you say 'no' to this girl?"

"Because Clarke has been giving me cooking lessons for the last few weeks on Fridays and I didn't want to be late," Lexa answers.

Anya was about to take a sip of her drink, but the beverage is halted halfway to her lips. 

"What the _fuck_ ," Anya looks at her in disbelief before putting down her drink so she can clutch at her sides while she laughs loudly. "You literally messed up making 2 minute noodles in our college apartment because you thought the '2 minute' part was just a suggestion."

"Well, that's why I need lessons," Lexa replies. She feels herself getting irritated at Anya for bringing up the noodle incident and tries not to let it show. "It's going well, actually. Clarke is a great teacher."

"Did you say that you're getting lessons every Friday?" Anya questions.

"Yes, every Friday night."

"Great, I'm free."

"It's okay, I don't need you to babysit. Aden actually really enjoys helping us cook."

"No, you idiot. I'm not offering to babysit. I need to see this with my own eyes, so I'm inviting myself over."

"What?" Lexa sputters.

"I've known you for 15 years and not once have I seen you cook a proper meal. If your babysitter has managed to do the impossible, teach you how to cook, then I have to witness it."

Lexa can't really argue with that. If the situation were reversed, she has no doubt she'd demand to see her friend cook too. Shit. She hopes Clarke is okay with having a spectator for their lessons.

***

"Octavia, it's fucking _Anya_ ," Clarke shouts down the phone while pacing her apartment. 

Lexa had asked Clarke before she left that night if it was okay that Anya wanted to join their cooking lesson on Friday. On the outside, Clarke pretended it was no big deal and had told Lexa it was fine. On the inside, Clarke was panicking.

"Yes, Clarke, I am acquainted with my boyfriend's sister," Octavia says and she can practically hear the eye roll in her voice.

"Do you remember how awful she was when you first started dating Lincoln? I remember when you came home from meeting her and you cried for an hour because you were convinced she would make him break up with you."

"Of course I remember. Clarke, she's just protective of her brother and we're all good now, you know that."

"What if she doesn't like me? She's Lexa's best friend. I don't want her to hate me."

"Clarke, you do realize that you're the babysitter and not actually Lexa's girlfriend, so there's no reason to worry about Anya's opinion. Unless..." Octavia's words die out for Clarke to fill in the blanks herself.

Clarke's not exactly sure how, but she has inadvertently revealed _again_ , that her feelings for Lexa aren't strictly professional. The last few weeks that she's spent working for Lexa have been amazing. Her relationship with Aden has continued to grow every day. More often than not, Clarke stays at night to eat dinner with them both before going home. Nobody can blame her for having a crush on her boss, who she spends a lot of time with, especially when said boss likes girls. It was bound to happen. Clarke has no intention of acting on it, so it's harmless.

"Anyway, I really have to go. I only have two days to plan what to make for dinner on Friday. Okay, bye." She doesn't give Octavia a chance to respond before hanging up the phone, eager to end the conversation before being grilled over her silly crush.

Clarke puts the phone down and walks over to the kitchen to look in her recipe book for ideas. She wants something easy enough that Lexa will be able to manage it, especially since she'll be cooking for four people this time, but she also wants to impress Anya. Clarke thinks she's narrowed it down to a couple of dishes when her phone dings to signal a new message.

**RAVEN - Lmao. Octavia just called me to tell me about your meltdown. No denying it now, Princess.**

***

After a long week of work, Friday nights are usually the highlight of Lexa's week. Today, however, she can't help but feel a bit apprehensive. Anya has always teased her about her lack of cooking abilities and so have one or two girlfriends after failed attempts at cooking romantic dinners. 

Having Clarke demonstrate things to her instead of just trying to follow a recipe by herself has changed Lexa's perspective. Making dinner for them has become something that she looks forward to, something she even takes pride in. She doesn't want to let Clarke down if she messes up tonight and she'll never hear the end of it from Anya. 

Clarke and Aden had left her a note to say they were picking up some last minute ingredients for dinner, so she had decided to have a quick shower and change into something more comfortable. Anya would be arriving in half an hour which meant she had time for a glass of wine to calm herself down.

As she steps out into the living room, she sees Clarke and Aden are back and they're unpacking grocery bags in the kitchen. When Lexa sees what Clarke is wearing it's obvious that she'll now need more than a glass of wine to settle her. Clarke has chosen to wear a tight black dress that stops just above her knees. The dress is modest, more than acceptable for a dinner, but Lexa is so used to seeing her in casual clothes that it seems a bigger deal than it probably is. Clarke is attractive to Lexa in whatever she's wearing, but she has to admit that the sight of her in a dress is really something to behold.

"Clarke, you look nice. Are you going somewhere after dinner?" she jokes, walking over to help with putting food away.

The girl in question looks up at her as she enters the kitchen and for the second time in as many minutes, Lexa has to remind herself to breathe normally. Now that she's closer, she can see Clarke is wearing make-up and it highlights her blue eyes perfectly. 

"I appreciate the compliment but I could do without the snark," Clarke says, smiling as she hands her some vegetables to put in the fridge.

"You look nice too, Aden," she says, taking a step over to him so she can ruffle his hair. His hair is getting longer and she thinks to herself that he could do with a haircut. It's still weird to her that these kind of things are now her responsibility. "What are we making tonight?"

"Chicken and mushroom risotto."

"Risotto? Isn't that...difficult?" 

"Not really. It can be tricky with getting it to the right consistency, but don't worry, I've made this plenty of times. I'll be here to make sure it goes okay," Clarke says, giving her a comforting smile.

"I trust you, Clarke."

"Good. Now, start chopping the onion. I doubt you want Anya to see you crying and I'm not doing it. I don't want to ruin my make-up."

***

She's just finished helping Lexa with prepping the rest of the ingredients they need, when there's a knock at the door. Clarke decides to answer it and let Anya in since Lexa is at the sink washing her hands.

"Hi," she says, opening the door with what she hopes is a charming smile, "come in. I'm Clarke."

"Anya." She smiles at Clarke before passing over the threshold into the apartment to greet the others.

"Commander, you're in the kitchen and nothing is burning! The night has already exceeded my expectations." 

Commander? Clarke makes a mental note to ask Lexa about the nickname later on.

"A pleasure to see you, as always," Lexa replies, pouring Anya a glass of wine as she tops up theirs.

"Aden, my favorite of the Woods siblings," Anya says as the boy's eyes light up and he gives her a brief hug from his place on the bar-stool. She takes a seat next to him on the other stool and it looks like they're in prime position for judging.

"Okay, let's start with cooking now Anya's here. First we need to put the stock on to boil," she directs Lexa and tries to ignore the fact they have an audience.

"Aden, I can always trust you to be honest with me. Has Lexa really been cooking the last few weeks or is this some kind of elaborate prank?" Anya questions, seemingly still in disbelief.

Lexa looks over to see his answer from her place near the stove and Clarke smiles brightly when Aden starts nodding and holding up both of his hands in a '10' sign, signaling a 10/10.

"Wow, a '10' from one of the harshest critics I know. How did you make this happen, Clarke?"

"Honestly, it was all Lexa. I may have shown her the proper way to do things and told her what to do next, but she's the one doing all the work," Clarke praises and Lexa shoots a grateful smile over her shoulder at her. "Aden has been helping too. I think he'll be wanting lessons next."

Aden smiles brightly at her and Clarke's heart melts. One of her favorite things over the last few weeks has been the way Aden has started to come more out of his shell around her. The quiet boy is still silent, but Clarke has learned to read the emotions that flash behind his eyes and his body language that speaks volumes. Clarke is amazed at how much she already cares for him. 

"It's not easy to have both Woods' wrapped around your finger, Clarke. You don't need it, but you already have my stamp of approval for that alone," Anya tells her and Clarke feels a rush of relief that she's managed to make a good impression.

"Octavia will be jealous that it only took me ten minutes when it took her a year," she jokes and Anya lets out a laugh.

"Anya hates everyone so I'd take that as a huge compliment," Lexa says as Clarke starts to direct her with adding things to the stock which has been simmering on the stove.

"I don't hate _everyone_ , I just have high standards."

"I'm truly honored. Since we're all friends now, can you tell me why you call Lexa, 'Commander'?"

"Anya, no, don't. It's embarrassing," Lexa pleads and Clarke becomes even more eager to here the story behind the nickname.

"When we were kids, we were both in the girl scouts. Lexa was our leader and she took it so seriously, covered herself in warpaint and everything. We started calling her Commander because she was bossy as fu-," Lexa cuts Anya off halfway through her swearing, wary of Aden who is still there.

"She gets it. Thanks, Anya." Lexa rolls her eyes and she turns back to cooking in an attempt to hide her blush, but Clarke has already noticed it.

"That's not embarrassing! I think it's adorable. Maybe I'll have to start referring to you as Commander too, since you're still bossy and my actual boss," Clarke points out.

"You're fired," Lexa responds, deadpan.

***

"That was really good, Lexa," Anya praises and she feels pride bloom in her chest at the compliment that isn't given lightly. 

They were all sitting around the table having just finished eating dinner and Lexa was happy with how the night had gone. The risotto turned out well and was quite tasty, though she was obviously bias. She didn't even have it in her to be annoyed at Anya for the college stories she had been regaling Clarke with throughout dinner. Aden had finished his dinner in record time and had gone back for seconds. 

"Does that mean you'll stop telling stories about our college days now?" Lexa asks hopefully.

"I'm enjoying them," Clarke complains, "just one more?"

"Fine," Lexa replies with a huff. She's finding it increasingly difficult not to agree whenever Clarke asks her for anything. Anya grins and immediately Lexa knows she'll regret giving her her blessing for the teasing to continue.

"When Lexa was sick during our second year of college, she refused to take any time off. It was exam week so, to be fair, it was a very important time of the year. She wouldn't go to the doctor and kept saying it was just a cold. Anyway, she miraculously gets through her last exam and as soon as she hands her it in, she passes out right there in the classroom."

"I didn't 'pass out', I just briefly loss consciousness. Besides, you weren't even there, so how would you know?"

"My friend Echo was in your class and gave me a play by play. Stop interrupting me." Anya glares at her to be quiet and she holds her hands up in defense. "The good news, was that she was right. She didn't have a cold and passed all of her exams. The bad news was she spent a week in the hospital fighting off pneumonia."

"What? You went through your exams with _pneumonia_? That's insane," Clarke shakes her head in disbelief.

Lexa shrugs. "I didn't think it was that serious at the time, I was too focused on getting through the semester."

"You are seriously hardcore...and stupid," Clarke says, reprimanding her slightly.

"Gee, thanks, Clarke."

Anya starts to grab the dishes off the table, stacking them and taking them to the kitchen. Aden looks exhausted and overly full from his second helping of dinner.

"You two go relax on the couch. Anya and I will take care of the dishes," she says, shooing them from the table and towards the living area.

It turns out that it's actually just her that does the washing up, Anya pouring herself some more wine and engaging Lexa in conversation while she sits on the counter next to her.

"So, is Clarke single?" Anya asks and Lexa drops the plate she's holding but luckily it doesn't fall too far, just back into the water-filled sink.

"What, how would I know? Why does it matter?"

"Because she's perfect for you. I don't know why you agreed to go out for drinks with that other woman when you have this at home."

"First of all, who says she even likes girls? Secondly, she's my babysitter. I'm not going to mess up what Aden has, what we all have, for the possibility of something more."

"I can ask Lincoln if he knows if she's into girls," Anya replies, ignoring the second part of her argument.

"No! Don't do that. He'll tell Octavia that you asked and then she'll tell Clarke and I'll be mortified."

"Lexa, she's perfect you. Clarke is patient, kind, funny, beautiful and Aden loves her more than he loves me, even though I've known him his whole life."

"If you think so highly of her, why don't you date her?" Lexa asks sarcastically.

"You know what, if you don't want to, I might do," Anya replies seriously.

Lexa ignores her and starts to wash the dishes, slightly more aggressively than before Anya brought up Clarke. Anya disappears to join the others on the couch and Lexa pours herself more wine, trying to ignore the sinking feeling she gets when imagining Anya dating Clarke. Somehow, her good mood from earlier has disappeared completely.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Reading your comments is so encouraging, thank you to those taking the time to leave feedback! Thank you to everyone reading and giving kudos etc too. It's all very much appreciated :)


	6. Chapter 6

"Lexa, these documents just arrived for you by courier." Her assistant places the envelope on the desk before exiting her office as swiftly as she had entered.

Lexa opens the envelope and a smug smile appears when she realizes it's the signed papers from Costia's client. It had taken another two meetings before an agreement was reached upon that suited both parties. Now that the deal has officially been signed off on, she decides to email Costia.

**_I've just received the documents which have now been signed by both parties._**

It's no more than a couple of minutes before she receives a response.

**_So, our working relationship has come to an end? I do believe you made a deal to buy me a drink._**

Lexa reads through the email and rolls her eyes. There's no way Costia won the bet.

**_My client authorized me to go higher with our monetary negotiations, so I'd say it's you who owes me a drink._**

She had actually managed to save her client hundreds of thousands of dollars. Lexa takes pride in her work and strives to be the best. It didn't hurt that it helped justify the promotion she had recently received over Nia's daughter and a free drink was an added bonus.

**_Since the end goal is for you to have a drink with me, I don't actually care who pays. How does Friday sound?_**

Lexa finishes reading the email and leans back in her desk chair to contemplate. After she had finished washing the dishes last Friday night when Anya had come over for dinner, she had walked into the living room to see Clarke, Aden and Anya all sitting together on the couch. Clarke had been laughing at something Anya had said, her hand lightly touching her shoulder. It had stirred a feeling of jealousy within her that she'd had to push down. She had no intention of acting on the crush she had on the girl, the risk was too high. Her head knew that. The trouble was convincing the rest of her. 

Costia was attractive, smart and had made it abundantly clear during their last couple of meetings that she was interested in Lexa. If she wasn't going to do anything about her feelings for Clarke, then it couldn't hurt to join Costia for a drink or two. She would have to message Anya to ask if she'd be free to watch Aden on Friday night. It felt wrong to ask Clarke to stay late just so she could go out.

**LEXA - Hey, are you free to watch Aden for me on Friday night?**

**ANYA - Depends.**

**LEXA - Depends on what?**

**ANYA - If it's because you have finally asked Clarke out, yes. If it's because you're going out with the lawyer, then no.**

**LEXA - What kind of 'best friend' are you?**

**ANYA - One who is trying to gently nudge you in the right direction. And, by gently nudge, I mean shoving you violently.**

**LEXA - So, that's a no to looking after Aden?**

**ANYA - I'll do it.**

**LEXA - Thank you.**

****

She fires off a quick email to Costia to let her know that she's free Friday night and to let her know where she should meet her. As she presses send on the email, her phone rings. 

"Hello?"

"Hi, this is Aden's teacher. Is this his sister, Lexa?"

"Yes, is he okay?" Lexa tries not to panic but her voice definitely comes out breathier than usual.

"He's not feeling very well and needs to be picked up from school. It seems like a cold or the flu, but nothing too serious. Aden's resting in the nurse's office at the moment but it's best that he goes home."

Lexa checks her watch and sees that she's due to meet an important new client in half an hour. She'll have to call Clarke to see if she can pick Aden up instead.

"Thank you for letting me know. I'm about to go into a meeting, so I can't pick him up myself. Clarke Griffin will be there to take him home."

"Okay, I'll let the nurse know."

"Thanks, bye." She hangs up the phone and then immediately dials Clarke's number, hoping she's not busy.

"Hey," Clarke answers her phone on the second ring.

"Hey, Aden's school just called to tell me he's sick but I have an important meeting this afternoon. Is there any way you could go and pick him up for me?"

"Oh, yeah, of course. I'd be picking him up in a few hours anyway, it's no trouble," Clarke replies and Lexa is once again reminded how lucky she is that Clarke came into her life.

"Thank you, Clarke. Can you let me know how he is? I won't be able to take calls during the meeting, but text me?" She has half a mind to leave right now, her brother is much more important than work, but she needs to make a good impression with their new client and it wouldn't do her any good to piss her boss off.

"Yes, I'll text you updates. Okay, I better hang up so I can change and go get him."

"Okay, bye."

Lexa ends the call and takes a deep breath. When she had answered the call from Aden's teacher there had been an overwhelming feeling of déjà vu, mirroring the phone call she had received after her parent's car accident. 

She gathers her things and sets off, determined to get through the meeting as fast as possible so she can get home. The sooner she's home, the sooner she can set her own eyes on Aden and be sure he's okay.

***

"Go change out of your school clothes. I'll set you up on the couch so I can keep an eye on you," Clarke directs at Aden as they walk through the door. 

Aden looks paler than usual and it makes her sad to see the usually energetic boy moving so lethargically. The nurse had informed her that he had a fever and should probably be on bed rest for a day or two. 

Clarke fills a bowl with cool water and finds a hand towel in the bathroom to use as a compress to bring down Aden's fever. She grabs a bottle of water out of the fridge for good measure and places the items down on the coffee table.

Aden comes out of his room in sweatpants and a zipped hoodie. She knows that his mind is telling him he's cold even though his temperature is actually quite high.

"Hey, come and lay down." Clarke arranges the couch cushions so that they're all on one side for him to rest his head on. 

Once Aden has settled himself on the couch, Clarke sits on the edge and lightly presses the back of her hand against his forehead.

"You're burning up. I'll get you some aspirin to take and then I'll use a damp cloth to try and bring your temperature down, okay?" Aden nods weakly and Clarke feels a pang of _something_ in her chest at the sight. "I'll be back."

Clarke goes in search of some aspirin and hears her phone alerting her to incoming text messages at an alarming rate from her bag.

**LEXA - Have you picked Aden up yet?**  
**LEXA - Is he okay?**  
**LEXA - Text me ASAP.**  
**LEXA - Clarke?**

**CLARKE - Sorry, I wanted to get Aden home as fast as possible and forgot to text you.**

**LEXA - Is he okay?**

**CLARKE - He has a fever. I'm just about to give him some aspirin and try to get his temperature down.**

**LEXA - Does he need to see a doctor?**

**CLARKE - Lexa, I'm more than capable of dealing with a cold. My Mom is a medical professional, remember?**

**LEXA - Okay. Keep me updated. Don't forget this time.**

**CLARKE - [rolling eyes emoji] Yes, Boss.**

"Sit up." Clarke helps Aden lean forward and passes over some water to wash the asprin down with. "Your sister is blowing up my phone with texts, demanding to know how you are." Aden rolls his eyes at the not so surprising information that his siter is being over protective, even from afar.

Clarke ushers him to lay back down and wets the cloth in the bowl of water, squeezing out the excess before folding it and placing it gently onto Aden's forehead. His eyes close and Clarke goes through the process of cooling down his skin and re-wetting the cloth when it gets warm. It's not long before Aden's eyes stay closed and his breathing evens out to signal that he's fallen asleep.

She wets the cloth a final time and places it back on his forehead before moving away to let him sleep. Since the TV would make too much noise, she decides to get her sketchbook out. Maybe she could draw something for Aden to cheer him up. She shoots a quick text off to Lexa to let her know Aden is asleep and settles down in the armchair to begin drawing.

Clarke had noticed the way Aden's eyes lingered over the scenes with the Grounders when reading through her comic and decides it would be a nice idea to draw him as one. She spends the next couple of hours perfecting a drawing of Aden dressed in Grounder clothing with war paint across his cheeks. Aden continues to sleep peacefully and before she knows it, Lexa is home from work.

She gestures for Lexa to be quiet, pointing to where Aden is still sleeping. Clarke places her sketchbook onto the coffee table and joins Lexa in the kitchen where they can talk without disturbing him.

"Hey, how is he?" Lexa asks anxiously.

"He's okay, I think he's just exhausted. When he wakes up I'll check his temperature but I'm pretty sure it's come down a bit."

"Thank you, Clarke." Lexa's shoulders finally relax, releasing some of the tension she was holding onto.

"No problem," she replies. "How was your meeting?"

Lexa runs a hand through her hair and Clarke tries not to think about how soft her hair looks. 

"It went well but all I could think about was getting home, to be honest."

Clarke hears movement behind her and sees Aden has woken up and is making his way over to them, her sketchbook held in his hands. 

"Hey, that was supposed to be a surprise." She takes the book out of his hand and carefully tears the page out before handing the drawing to him. "When I visit the hospital, sometimes I draw the kids something to cheer them up. I thought you might like that too."

Aden doesn't say anything, but he does take a step closer so that he can wrap his arms around her in a tight hug. Clarke is surprised by the affection, so it takes her a moment to reciprocate. When she returns the hug, it is soft and sweet.

"I take it you like it, then?"

Aden nods his head against her shoulder before loosening his arms and taking a step back.

"Can I see?" Lexa asks, gesturing to the drawing in Aden's hand. He looks over to Clarke for permission and she smiles, letting him know he can show her.

"Wow. This is fantastic, Clarke," Lexa says, looking at the picture of Aden in awe. "Should we put it on the fridge? I think it needs to be displayed." Lexa walks over to the fridge and pins the drawing to the door with a few magnets. Clarke is slightly embarrassed at the praise and the thought of them looking at her drawing every day since it would be impossible to miss.

"Come on, back to the couch," Lexa orders while rubbing Aden's back lightly, "you need to rest." Lexa fluffs the pillows for him and puts the TV on, turning down the volume before returning to the kitchen to talk to Clarke.

"I know it's a lot to ask, but would you be able to take care of him all day tomorrow? I don't think he should go to school and I don't really have enough sick days left at work after using them all up for when..." _When her parents had died._

"As much as I hate waking up early, I'm sure I can make an exception." 

***  
"Good Morning, Clarke," Lexa greets, opening the door for her. Clarke only grunts at her in reply before moving to the kitchen and taking a seat on one of the bar-stools. "Okay, so you're not a morning person. Would you like some breakfast?"

"I don't really eat breakfast. I'm not usually awake early enough, so it's basically just lunch and dinner."

"Clarke, that's not good for you at all. I just made myself a smoothie but there's some left over. I'll pour you some."

"Yeah, I'm not _really_ a smoothie kind of girl."

"It's very healthy, Clarke. It will set you up for the day," Lexa enthuses and Clarke has to stop herself from rolling her eyes.

"This looks disgusting," she replies, unimpressed at the green concoction that has been set before her.

"It tastes better than it looks."

Clarke is unconvinced but can't bring herself to disappoint Lexa by not at least trying it. Reluctantly, she takes a sip of the drink and has to immediately cover her mouth with her other hand to make sure she doesn't spit it back out. It takes everything in her to swallow possibly the most disgusting liquid she has ever tasted.

"Delicious," she says and vows to throw it down the sink as soon as Lexa leaves.

"See, I knew you'd like it," Lexa says smugly. 

Clarke must have a _serious_ crush. If it were anyone else, she wouldn't hesitate to comment on how vile this smoothie is.

"How is Aden?" She asks, changing the subject.

"His fever seems to have disappeared but I think his throat is sore, so it's still a good idea to keep him home today. He's just having a shower, he'll be out in a minute."

"Well, I don't want to keep you from getting to work. We'll be fine," Clarke assures, keen for once that Lexa will leave so that she won't have to drink any more of this damn smoothie.

"Okay, thanks. I'll try and leave early if I can. Bye Aden!" Lexa shouts to him through the bathroom door. "See you later, Clarke."

"Have a good day at work." Clarke thinks it all feels oddly domestic, but in a good way. In a way that gives her a swooping feeling in her stomach and makes her smile brighter.

As soon as Lexa closes the door behind her, she wastes no time in dumping her drink down the drain in the sink. She has no idea how Lexa calls this 'breakfast'. Clarke has to admit that the one positive of those smoothies is the amazingly toned body Lexa has. Not that she's spent that much time analyzing her body or anything. 

She's just about to start washing her now empty glass when she gets the feeling she's being watched. Clarke almost drops her glass when she sees Aden standing silently behind her. 

"Aden! You scared me."

He smirks at her in reply before looking over her shoulder at the glass in the sink.

"If you tell Lexa that I didn't drink her smoothie, I'll embarrass you in front of your friends when I pick you up from school next," she threatens. Aden shrugs and she rolls her eyes. "Go put Netflix on. Sick days are for being lazy and watching good TV."

Clarke finishes washing her glass and joins him in the living area. She was going to sit on the arm chair so Aden could stretch out on the couch by himself, but he's set up pillows and blankets on one side of the couch, leaving a very obvious space next to him for Clarke to sit. 

"Please, not another documentary," she groans, flopping onto the couch. Aden is scrolling through the Netflix library and lingering over a movie about meerkats. "If I was sick when I was your age, I'd be watching Disney, not watching wildlife documentaries." Aden turns his nose up in distaste and she guesses he thinks he's too old/cool to be watching Disney.

She stealthily plucks the remote from his hand and lets out a noise of triumph. "Okay, no animation...nothing rated over PG in-case your sister finds out and fires me..." Her eyes catch one movie title in particular and she knows just what to pick. "Have you ever seen 'She's The Man'?" Aden shakes his head. "Looks like we've found a winner. It's hilarious and about soccer, so it's the perfect combination."

Clarke presses play and they settle down to watch the beginning credits. She sneaks a look over at Aden to see what his reaction is and his eyes are shining brightly, his mouth pulled up in amusement. Octavia made her watch this movie so many times when they were younger, she was obsessed. 

It's about halfway through the movie when a particularly funny scene appears on screen and Clarke is confused when she hears a bark of noise to her right. She supposes the sound could resemble a laugh and it had come from Aden. His hands are clasped over his mouth like he's just as surprised that the sound came out of his mouth as she is. Clarke decides not to make a big deal out of it and just continues to watch the movie like nothing has happened.

After five or so minutes, her eyes drift back over to Aden and she sees that his eyes are unfocused and his face is now set in a pained looking grimace. Clarke pauses the movie before turning to talk to him.

"Aden, what's wrong?" The boy in question doesn't make eye contact with her, just continues to stare blankly down at his hands. "Is it because you laughed? It's okay to have fun, you know? Just because you're sick doesn't mean we can't have a little fun." Aden frowns further and looks slightly guilty. Clarke focuses more intently on his face and realizes that his eyes are starting to fill with tears.

Suddenly, it clicks. For months after her Father died she felt guilty for going out and having fun. She used to be conflicted about getting on with her life, almost like by moving on, she was forgetting about missing her Dad. She felt guilty for being happy when she was supposed to be sad, when her Mom still cried herself to sleep. She guesses Aden might feel similarly.

"It took me a long time to accept that just because I was happy and living my life, it didn't mean that I forgot any less about my Dad. I missed him every day and still got upset that he died too soon, but I knew deep down that he wouldn't want me to spend every day in mourning. You can be happy and still be sad, Aden." 

A tear rolls down his cheek and Clarke's heart breaks for him. She doesn't know what else to say. She doesn't want to overstep or preach. It's hard to know how to make him feel better when he isn't able to articulate what he's thinking and feeling out loud.

Aden doesn't look at her, just picks up his pillow and the blanket hanging over the back of the couch. She thinks he's going to go to his bedroom and be by himself, but he surprises her by placing the pillow next to where her legs are crossed. He lays back down and spreads the blanket over his body before grabbing the remote and pressing play. 

Clarke squeezes his shoulder, trying to let him know that it's okay. She wants to reassure him that she understands and that it doesn't matter if he's still not ready to say anything. When she goes to remove her hand, Aden stops her and she rests it there instead. 

Clarke tries to put herself in his shoes. She was always needy when she was younger and sick. It was her Dad who usually took care of her. He'd make her soup and let her rest her head in his lap. The first time she stayed home from school when she was sick, after her Dad died, her Mom got called in to work for a few hours and she was on her own. It was times like those that she missed her Father's presence the most. If Aden needed that closeness from her, then she'd give it willingly. 

They spend the rest of the day like that, watching movies together. Aden laughs when he finds something funny and he doesn't try to censor it. Clarke makes them lunch and hot chocolates. Sometime during the third movie they fall asleep, Aden with his legs on Clarke's lap, the blanket covering both of them.

***

Lexa enters the apartment and instantly notices how quiet it is. She wonders briefly if anybody is home, but then she sees the TV is on and just not playing anything. As she moves closer to the couch, it becomes clearer as to why it's so quiet. Clarke and Aden are both sound asleep, content with the blanket draped over them, keeping them warm. The first thought that enters her mind is how peaceful Clarke looks in her sleep. Her golden hair frames her face and Lexa almost wishes she was awake so she could see the beautiful blue eyes that she knows are now hidden by closed eyelids. Before she can stop herself, she pulls out her phone to take a picture of the both of them. 

Shit. She forgot that her phone isn't on silent. The sound of the camera taking a picture is louder than it usually would appear with the apartment completely silent. Aden begins to stir and his wriggling causes Clarke to wake up too.

"Sorry, I didn't mean to wake you," she apologizes, feeling guilty for breaking their peace and quiet.

"That's okay." Clarke smiles sleepily at her and it makes her heart jump. 

She can't help but wonder what would have happened if they had met under different circumstances. Maybe they would have eventually met through their friends. If that was the case, she wouldn't have hesitated to pursue Clarke. Aden obviously adores her and Lexa is sure if she spent more time with her, especially just the two of them, she'd be just as enamored. 

"How are you feeling, champ?" Aden smiles up at her and he definitely looks better. He sits up and lifts his pillow, gesturing for her to take a seat and join them. She takes her shoes off and takes a seat, urging Aden to put the pillow in her lap instead so that he can still lay down. Her body is angled towards Clarke so she can see the both of them better.

It feels nice coming home to this. Anya has called her a commitment-phobe in the past. Lexa has had relationships. One or two of them she'd call 'serious', but she never got to the point of wanting to move in together or anything like that. Lexa valued her space and the hours she worked didn't really equate to settling down. It was only recently that she made sure to leave the office at a more reasonable time. Coming home to Aden, who was her favorite person in the world and Clarke, who was all smiles and kind eyes... Lexa couldn't afford to get too attached. She knew all too well how things could change in an instant.

"What did you two get up to today?"

"I couldn't stand the thought of watching documentaries all day, so I made Aden watch some of my favorite movies. She's The Man, Mean Girls and School of Rock, but I think we may have fallen asleep towards the end of that one."

"Though not entirely educational, those are some pretty great movies," Lexa admits.

"Is that your way of saying I have good taste in movies?"

"Your taste in movies is much better than your taste in television shows, yes."

"Whatever," Clarke replies with a roll of her eyes and Lexa smiles down at Aden who is watching them with amusement. "So, any requests for what you want to cook on Friday?"

"Actually," Lexa diverts her eyes to the TV screen which is still blank, "I'm going out that night, so I won't be able to do this weeks cooking lesson."

"Oh." Lexa doesn't need to look at Clarke to know she's disappointed, she can hear it in her voice. "That's okay, there's always next week." Lexa finally makes eyes contact and sees Clarke is smiling but it doesn't reach her eyes. 

Aden tugs on her arm and if the glare he's giving is any indication, he's annoyed with her.

"I've asked Anya to come over and look after Aden that night. That way you can have a Friday night off too," she tries to say it like a joke to ease the tension in the air but it falls flat.

"Friday nights are never work to me, Lexa." Clarke gently lifts Aden's feet off her lap and gets up from the couch. "Anyway, you're home now so I should probably go."

"Oh, okay," Lexa replies. She had gotten used to Clarke staying for a while after she got home and always looked forward to their conversations. On some occasions, the light-hearted banter she shared with Clarke would be the highlight of her day.

"I'll see myself out. See you tomorrow, Aden." Clarke gives the boy an affectionate smile which fades when she meets Lexa's eyes. "Bye, Lexa."

The door closes softly and the quiet that was once peaceful now seems like it's mocking her. It doesn't help that she feels like she's done something wrong. Clarke had obviously been disappointed and she can't help the guilt that flows through her.

Aden moves his head from her lap and stands up whilst shooting her a disappointed look. He shakes his head at her once more before leaving to go to his room. Lexa takes the pillow Aden has left behind and holds it over her face so she can groan loudly into it. It looks like she's managed to piss everyone off and she only has herself to blame.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I love all of your comments! It's great reading the feedback, so thank you. Thanks to everyone who is leaving encouragement in other ways (kudos etc) or even just giving this a read :)


	7. Chapter 7

Clarke hastily leaves the apartment after learning Lexa will be missing their Friday night cooking lesson. That night always kind of felt like _their_ night. She knows in her head that it was never official or anything. It's just that she would never have made plans for that night because it was her favorite of the week. The thought that Lexa didn't feel the same way was what had made her exit the apartment as soon as physically possible. 

Instead of going home, she decides to visit Raven. Clarke had sent a quick text to see if Raven was home and had received confirmation that her friend was indeed home from work. 

When Clarke arrives, she knocks on Raven's door and it opens almost immediately.

"Hey, Princess," Raven greets her and steps aside to let her in. "Not that I'm unhappy to see you, but what brings you here? Apart from my dazzling good looks, of course."

Clarke rolls her eyes before flopping onto her friend's couch and Raven takes a seat opposite her.

"I didn't feel like returning to my empty apartment," she replies.

"Clarke, you usually love peace and quiet. I can't even remember how many times you grumbled about 'personal space' in college."

"I know. I just left Lexa's and didn't feel like going home, okay?"

"Ah," Raven says like she's finally beginning to catch on. "Does this bad mood I'm sensing have anything to do with a certain green-eyed brunette?"

Clarke huffs loudly but doesn't answer the question.

"Come on, spill."

"It's nothing. Lexa told me she's going out on Friday so we wont be doing our usual thing that night. It's not a big deal."

"It's no big deal, but here you are, laying on my couch and looking like someone stole your candy."

"I was just a bit disappointed, that's all. Cooking together and playing board games is something I look forward to."

"So you're hurt that Lexa made plans to go out, because it's usually the time you spend with her?" Raven hits the nail on the head and Clarke sits up so she can see her better.

"I know, it's stupid."

"You have a crush on her, it's not that stupid."

"Yeah... I think it's more than a crush."

Raven looks at her sympathetically before standing up and taking a seat next to her.

"Why don't you do something about it? Use some of that Griffin charm that you wish worked on me," Raven jokes, bumping their shoulders together lightly.

"I can't! What if I try something and she doesn't feel the same way? That would make things _so_ awkward. I love working for her, it doesn't even feel like work. Plus, having a steady income has been great and Aden has really grown on me. It's not worth risking all of that," she reasons. 

"Okay, I get that. I do. Does that mean she asked you to stay late on Friday?"

"No, she's asked Anya to look after Aden. Ray, what if she's going on a date?" Clarke asks the question that has been on her mind the whole drive over here. It makes sense that Lexa would ask Anya instead, so that she could be home as late as she wants.Then again, maybe she's just being paranoid.

"Don't read too much into it, Clarke. I know you like to overthink things, but don't be upset over something hypothetical. Since you now have Friday night off, why don't we go out too? We can drag Octavia's domesticated ass out," Raven enthuses.

"Yeah, that sounds good. It's been ages since we've all gone drinking together. You're a genius," Clarke says, hugging Raven tightly.

***

The last couple of days have been weird for Lexa. Aden hadn't been cold towards her per se, but he had taken to spending a bit more time in his room. Clarke had been nothing but nice to her. The smiles and conversations were still there, but it all seemed to lack the previous warmth. Lexa felt out of sorts and she didn't like it one bit.

She knows Friday's had become an unofficial time that they all spent together. Those nights had helped Aden to come more and more out of his shell. Instead of hiding himself away, he actively participated in making dinner and took an alarming amount of glee in thrashing them at board games. When Costia had asked if she was free for drinks tonight, she hadn't really connected the dots until it was too late. If it wasn't for Aden being sick and the worrying from that, she might have realized sooner that perhaps she should have suggested a different night.

Before entering her apartment, she takes a deep breath. There's nothing she can do now, anyway. She needs to snap out of it and focus on having a good time tonight. It's been a while since she's had a night out and she intends to make the most of it.

"Hey," she calls out, opening the door and taking off her jacket.

"Hey," Clarke shouts back from the living area, but Lexa can't actually see her.

She takes her shoes off and leaves them by the door before walking over to see what they're up to.

"What's all this?"

Clarke and Aden are standing in the most ridiculous positions, playing a game of Twister. Her coffee table has been pushed against the wall and the couch has been moved to give them more space.

"I didn't want to fight over the TV remote, so I suggested we play a game and this is what Aden picked," Clarke explains. "Would you mind spinning for me?"

Lexa walks over to where the spinner is placed on the ground and does as Clarke asks.

"Left hand on yellow." 

Clarke moves her hand to the requested color. In doing so she ends up bending over and giving Lexa a great view of how tight her jeans are. Not exactly the most appropriate thoughts to be having before going out with Costia.

"I'm just going to go have a shower. You two continue playing, but try not to break anything...Or each other."

Clarke laughs and Aden spins for his turn. 

"Okay, right foot...red. That means you can move one of your stinky feet away from me," Lexa hears Clarke telling Aden as she turns towards her bedroom.

Once she gets in the shower, Lexa starts to mentally go through her wardrobe. Should she go with a dress or something a bit more casual? She wants to make a good impression, but dresses aren't really her thing. By the end of her shower, she has decided on wearing her form fitting leather pants, paired with a dark green button down that brings out her eyes (so she's been told). 

Lexa has just wrapped a towel around her body and is stepping out of the shower when she hears a scream from outside the door. She doesn't think twice before running out of the bathroom in just her towel, anxious to see what's causing the commotion.

What she hadn't expected, was to see Anya straddling Clarke on her living room floor. Apparently Anya got here early and had taken Aden's place for the game of Twister. By the looks of it, Anya must have become unbalanced and fallen on top of Clarke. The blonde doesn't seem to mind the closeness at all, which bothers Lexa more than it probably should.

Before her mind can tell her to retreat, Clarke spots her from her position on the floor. It's almost comical how Clarke's laughter at the Twister situation with Anya turns into her choking at the sight of Lexa. Anya notices Clarke's attention has been diverted and follows her eye-line.

"I heard a scream..." Lexa tries to explain why she's standing there in just a towel.

"If that's how you're dressing for your date, I'm guessing I'll be staying later than I had planned." Anya smirks and finally rolls off of Clarke, standing and helping the other girl up from the floor.

"Date?" Clarke questions.

"I'm not sure I'd call it a date," she tries to downplay it.

"Two attractive gay ladies going out for a drink... If that's not a date, then I don't know what is," Anya says and Lexa sighs internally. She's not entirely sure why, but she hadn't wanted Clarke to know the reason behind her outing tonight.

"Well," Clarke begins, apparently determined not to look at her from the neck down, "I hope you have a nice time on your _date_. I'll see you on Monday. Bye Aden, good luck at your game tomorrow!" Clarke smiles at Aden who is watching the scene unfold from the safety of the couch.

"Clarke, why don't you stay? It's Friday night after all," Anya says, looking towards Clarke for an answer.

"Actually, I'm going out too. Thank you for the offer, though. It's very sweet of you," Clarke responds and Lexa feels a bit of jealously creeping in at the bright smile she's directing towards Anya which has been absent towards Lexa herself the last couple of days.

"I'll walk you out," Lexa offers.

"Lexa," Clarke laughs and fixes her with a pointed look.

Oh, right. She's still only in a towel. Lexa feels herself start to blush and becomes very aware of the fact there's only a small towel covering her.

"Right, of course. Have a good weekend, Clarke."

"Thanks, you too," Clarke replies, gathering her things and heading for the door. "Bye," she calls to Anya and Aden over her shoulder. 

The door closes softly behind her and Lexa's shoulders slump, just as they do every Friday when Clarke leaves and she realizes she won't be seeing her for a couple of days.

"You've got it bad, Commander," Anya snickers. Lexa rolls her eyes and hopes Aden doesn't realize what she's referring to.

 

***

"Ugh. I'm telling you guys, I have no chance," Clarke whines, taking a swig of her drink.

Octavia and Raven had dragged her to a bar downtown, as promised. They'd spent the first hour catching up on each other's week and what they had all been up to. The conversation had turned to Clarke's now least favorite conversation topic, Lexa.

"How can you be so sure?" Octavia asks.

"Maybe because she's on a _date_ , when usually at this time on a Friday, we'd be spending it together?" Clarke replies, slightly dejected.

"It's just one date, Clarke. The date could go terribly and maybe she'll realize what's right in front of her," Raven reassures. 

"I guess. Anyway, lets not talk about it anymore." Clarke really just wants to forget about Lexa for the night. 

"Okay, but before we drop the entire Lexa situation... Can you please describe the whole 'came out of the bathroom in just a towel' part again?" Raven smirks.

" _Raven_ ," Clarke tries to sound exasperated but there's still a smile tugging at her lips which ruins the effect. 

"I can't believe Anya played Twister with you," Octavia huffs in annoyance. 

"What can I say? I'm obviously way more charming than you," Clarke says smugly. 

The conversation at their table is interrupted when someone else decides to join it.

"Charm is definitely one of your strong suits, Clarke." Clarke's eyes move to take in the figure now standing next to their table. Coach Collins smirks at her and takes a sip of his beer.

"I wish I could say the same for you," Clarke replies with a fake smile.

"Oh come on, don't be like that! We got off on the wrong foot," Finn says, trying to defend himself. 

Clarke really isn't in the mood to argue, especially with someone who doesn't deserve her time. The way he had spoken about Aden isn't easily forgotten and she is well known for holding a grudge.

"I'm actually here with my friends." Clarke gestures to Octavia and Raven who are watching their interaction with caution, obviously picking up on the animosity in her voice.

"I was hoping I could buy you a drink, to apologize for upsetting you the last time I saw you. In fact, I wouldn't mind buying all of you lovely ladies a drink." Finn finishes his sentence with a wink and coy smile at all of them which she finds repulsive.

Clarke puts on her best fake smile, "Absolutely, one hundred percent, _not_."

Finn looks like he's about to protest further when Raven fixes him with a death glare. 

"Right, maybe next time," Finn says, offering one last smile before finally walking away. 

"Clarke," Octavia says, watching Finn walk away with a bewildered look. "Who was that?"

"It's a long story," Clarke replies, rolling her eyes and finishing off her drink.

***

Lexa's date had been going smoothly, to say the least. The conversation between them had come naturally, which was surprising considering they didn't actually have that much in common, except for their professions.

As the night had worn on and more alcohol had been consumed, Costia became less subtle with her intentions. She took any opportunity to touch Lexa's arms or hands and had 'accidentally' brushed their legs together on more than one occasion. 

Overall, Lexa was happy with the way the evening had developed. The alcohol was giving her a great buzz and at least she hadn't rocked the boat with Aden and Clarke over something that wouldn't amount to anything. 

All of these thoughts, so cautiously optimistic, should have been a red flag to Lexa that it couldn't last. 

It was two drinks in that Lexa had spotted Clarke enter the bar with her friends. At first, she thought she was seeing things. It was highly unlikely that they would end up at the same bar. She had almost convinced herself that it was just a similar looking blonde, when the woman in question had turned around. Those eyes, that _smile_. It was definitely Clarke. The dress Clarke was wearing almost made her mouth water. It was red and clung to her body in all the right places. Lexa had seen her in a dress before, when they had dinner with Anya, but _this_... This dress left little to the imagination.

Clarke and her friends had opted to sit at a table in the middle of the bar, whilst her and Costia occupied a booth positioned against the wall. Lexa was thankful that Clarke was sitting with her back to her. Luckily, it seemed Octavia hadn't spotted her either and she was too distracted by the two at her table to take in much of her surroundings.

Unfortunately, just because she couldn't actually see Clarke's face, it didn't mean she was any less distracted by her presence. She was so mesmerized by Clarke's laughter at one point that she missed Costia's question and had to ask her if she would repeat it. After that, she pulled herself together. It wouldn't do her any good to ruin her date with Costia, just because she couldn't take her eyes off Clarke. 

Lexa was successful with diverting her attention back to Costia. Her gaze still drifted to Clarke, she couldn't help it, but she didn't allow it to linger or distract her fully. That was until Coach Collins had approached Clarke's table.

It was obvious from his stance and unbearably smug smile, that he was trying to flirt with Clarke. Lexa curses that she's too far away to hear the conversation. She still can't see Clarke's face either, which adds to her frustration.

"I'll get the next round," Lexa says, downing her drink in one big gulp.

Costia smiles at her in response and Lexa takes off to the bar, suddenly keen to be a lot more inebriated than she currently is. 

As Lexa waits for the bartender to take her order, she can't help but let her thoughts drift to Clarke and Finn. Saying that she couldn't stand him would be an understatement. If it weren't for Aden, she'd be a lot more vocal towards Finn regarding her thoughts on his coaching methods. Not to mention her feelings about how he acts with the parents, specifically Moms, off the pitch.

"Lexa?" 

Oh, _shit._

***

She can't believe that Lexa is on a date here. Lexa is on a _date_ , while she's in the same room, trying to forget about her. 

"Clarke," Lexa acknowledges her. 

After rejecting free drinks on their behalf from Finn, Raven and Octavia had decided it was her turn to buy the next round. 

"Hey," Clarke greets, unsure of what to say.

"Don't tell me you're buying your own drinks? Surely Collins offered to buy you one," Lexa says, tone slightly biting.

Clarke is surprised by Lexa's cold attitude, as well as by the fact the other girl had obviously seen her before now but had chosen not to say anything. 

"He did offer, actually."

"No surprise there," Lexa rolls her eyes. 

"You know what?" Clarke feels bold with the alcohol running through her system. "If I didn't know any better, I'd say you were _jealous._ "

"Jealous?" Lexa laughs, but Clarke can tell it's far from genuine. "What would I have to be jealous of?"

"I don't know, you tell me."

"I'm just trying to look out for you, that's all. He'll try and sleep with anyone who crosses his path."

"So, you'd have a problem if I slept with him?" Clarke asks and enjoys the way Lexa's shoulders tense at her question.

"You deserve better than him."

"Do I?"

"Of course," Lexa replies. "You're amazing, Clarke."

Their eyes lock and Clarke is glad she's in line to order a drink because her mouth is suddenly very dry. When Lexa looks at her this way, she almost believes her feelings aren't one-sided.

"I didn't accept a drink from him, anyway. Asshole isn't my type."

"What _is_ your type?" Lexa asks, seemingly intrigued.

"I don't have a specific type, just standards," Clarke dodges the question.

"What about Anya, is she your type?" 

Why is Lexa asking her about Anya? Clarke can't be sure, because of the alcohol, but it seems like Lexa is jealous of her and Anya too.

"Anya is everyone's type, she's gorgeous," Clarke compliments.

Before she gets a response, the bartender makes his way over to them and Lexa asks for two beers, before turning to ask Clarke what she wants. Lexa pays for all of the drinks, including hers.

"Looks like I did better than Collins," Lexa says smugly, gesturing to the drinks being placed in front of them by the bartender. "You allowed me to buy you a drink."

Clarke moves closer to Lexa, her lips directly next to her ear. "If you wanted to buy me a drink," she husks, "all you had to do was ask."

She lets her lips brush Lexa's cheek as she pulls away, grabbing the drinks from the bar and walking back to her table. 

"Clarke, was that Lexa I saw you talking to at the bar?" Octavia questions as she retakes her seat.

"Yeah, she's here on her date," Clarke answers, a smile coating her features.

"Am I missing something? If she's here on her date, why do you look so happy?" Raven asks, confused by her upbeat mood.

Clarke recalls the image of Lexa's face when mentioning her interactions with Finn and Anya. There was definitely jealousy there. When Clarke had gotten close to Lexa's ear to talk to her, she had definitely felt the other girl shiver. 

"Because," Clarke smirks, lifting her drink to her lips, "I might have a chance with Lexa after all."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Once again, thank you for all your feedback! I really do appreciate it. Thanks for the continued support/encouragement :)


	8. Chapter 8

"Who was that girl you were talking to at the bar?" Costia asks her as she places their drinks down.

"Oh, that's Clarke. She babysits my brother."

"Ah, so she's just the babysitter?" Costia takes a sip of her drink and Lexa narrows her eyes at the way she had said 'babysitter'.

"She's not _just_ the babysitter. She's way more than that," Lexa tries to explain.

She may have officially hired Clarke as a babysitter, but it's never felt like just a business arrangement. Clarke has become part of their lives, part of their every day routine. She spends almost as much time in her apartment as she does herself. Lexa may have been searching for someone to look after Aden, but she knows she's found someone who looks out for her too.

"Do you see her often?" 

"Almost every day," she replies, not sure where Costia is going with this line of questioning.

"Where does your brother live?" 

Of course. Costia must think her brother lives with her parents. She's not comfortable telling her about her parents death. Not only is it still very much a sensitive issue for her, she doesn't want to share that information with someone she hasn't known that long.

"My brother lives with me," Lexa says, a tone of finality in her voice that indicates Costia should drop the subject.

"It looked from here like you and Clarke were pretty friendly."

Lexa isn't quite sure how their nice evening had taken such a turn for the worse. 

"I'm not sure what you're insinuating?"

"I'm just pointing out that it looked like you two are quite close."

"Are you implying there's something going on between Clarke and I?" she asks, slightly irritated.

"Is there? I don't want to be anybody's second best, Lexa."

Lexa takes a deep breath and tries to delay giving her an answer by taking a couple of sips from her drink that she has so far neglected. She doesn't want to lie to Costia. There isn't anything going on between her and Clarke, but she can't deny that there's a definite attraction there. If Lexa let herself, she might even admit there's feelings there too. It's not fair of her to start something with Costia if she's not going to give 100% to it.

"There's nothing going on with Clarke, but I don't want to lead you on. Clarke's important to me and even though nothing has happened between us, I wouldn't be opposed." Lexa winces, feeling guilty for her honesty.

"It's okay, Lexa." Costia places a hand on her arm and Lexa is surprised with how calm the other girl looks. "It's better for both of us to be honest now, rather than getting hurt in the long run."

"I'm sorry."

"Don't be! Come on, Lexa. I know you've been through a lot lately." 

Lexa's eyebrows raise at that. She had been sure Costia hadn't known about her parents. Apparently news travels fast. 

"I was told why you had to miss our meeting when you had time off. You deserve some happiness in your life. If Clarke brings you that, I would never hold it against you."

Lexa feels a lot of emotions coursing through her body right now. It's rare that she lets herself think about her parents. She's so used to pushing those thoughts and feelings down, trying to be strong for Aden and knowing if she let herself feel even a fraction of the pain, it would crumble her. 

Clarke had given her so much, without even realizing it. Before Lexa had hired her, the apartment was _so_ quiet. Not the peaceful kind of quiet, but the kind that felt heavy and weighted with grief. Lexa had felt lost in the weeks after her parents death. She had never felt so alone, so fragile. When Clarke had come into her life, she brought brightness with her. Clarke became someone else she could rely on and that took some of the pressure away. Lexa would have found someone else to babysit Aden eventually, but she's sure no other person would have brought the companionship that Clarke also offered.

Clarke was, quite simply, special. 

"I don't know what to say..." Lexa says, unsure of what to do in this situation.

"You don't have to say anything. I think you're a good person, Lexa. Maybe we can be friends?" Costia looks at her with a sweet smile and Lexa thinks if she had met her before Clarke, they could have been good together.

"I'd like that," she agrees. 

"Well, I think you should get your shit together and go talk to Clarke. That girl is gorgeous and won't be available for long. I know you're probably not a hugger, but I am, so let's hug it out," Costia says, getting up from the table so they can hug properly.

Lexa stands up too and reciprocates the hug. Costia was right, she's not a hugger, but this feels nice and Lexa thinks having another friend couldn't hurt. 

"Thank you for being so understanding," she says, taking a step back and breaking their embrace.

"Don't get used to it. This is a one time only kind of thing. As soon as we're on opposite sides of the table at work, I'll be anything but understanding," Costia says with a smirk and Lexa smiles at her ability to brighten the mood. "I'm going to head off, but you should stay and talk to Clarke."

"I'm not sure I should be interrupting her night out," Lexa reasons.

"If the look she gave me while we were hugging is any indication, she won't mind. Now, no more excuses!" 

"Okay, okay. Make sure you get home safely." 

Costia collects her things and gives her one last smile before departing. Lexa debates whether she should sit back down or go over to where Clarke is sitting. Before she can make her mind up, Octavia catches her eye from across the room and waves her over. Lexa picks up her beer and walks over to join them, wondering what the rest of the night will bring.

***

"Octavia! What are you doing?" Clarke hisses at her friend who is signalling for Lexa to come over.

"Her date is clearly over and since they didn't leave _together_...Time for your best wingman to get to work," Octavia says, sending her a wink.

Clarke had told her friends about Lexa's jealousy and they had both encouraged her to be more obvious with her feelings. That was fine in theory, but Clarke wasn't sure she was ready to put her friends' advice into practice.

"Hey," Lexa greets, standing next to their table in almost the exact same place Finn had been earlier. The difference being that her presence was much more welcome. "I hope I'm not interrupting..."

"Of course not. Why don't you take a seat next to Clarke," Octavia offers and Clarke narrows her eyes. It seems Octavia wasn't joking about being her wingman. 

"Since these two are rude as hell, I'll introduce myself," Raven says, looking towards Lexa. "I'm Raven."

"Nice to meet you, Raven. Clarke speaks very highly of you," Lexa says politely and Clarke can't help the snort that escapes.

"No, I don't."

"Rude. Clarke definitely speaks highly of you, Lexa. She never shuts up about you really, it's kind of-," 

"Raven, you've barely touched your drink. Maybe you should fix that?" Clarke interrupts Raven before she can continue to embarrass her. 

Raven follows her advice and takes a sip of her drink, but there's still a smug smirk on her face. It almost matches the one that Lexa is now sporting after hearing that she apparently talks about her a lot.

"So, how was your date?" Octavia asks, her gaze falling to Lexa.

"It was okay. We decided we're better off as friends though," Lexa answers, smiling lightly. 

Clarke is surprised that she doesn't look overly disappointed that her date didn't amount to anything more, but she takes it as a positive for her own chances.

"That's a shame," Octavia says, though the smile on her face indicates she isn't that sorry to hear about Lexa's failed date.

"Clarke may not have told you this, but I'm an expert match-maker. I'm the reason Octavia got together with Lincoln," Raven tells Lexa proudly and Octavia rolls her eyes while she takes a drink. "I'm sure I could help you, too. What are you looking for?"

Clarke has to stop herself from reaching out to smack Raven's arm. She can see straight through her. It looks like Raven has decided to join Octavia on her match-making mission.

"I don't know...I'm not really _looking_ for anything."

"Nope, you're not getting out of the question that easily. List some qualities," Raven persists.

"Okay, well first of all, she'd have to get along with Aden. We're kind of a package deal," Lexa answers, running a hand through her hair. "I don't have a particular type, like blondes or brunettes or whatever. Honestly, as long as she has a sense of humor and can put up with me, that's all I can ask for," Lexa jokes. 

"You're not that bad," she says, bumping her shoulder with Lexa's.

"So, you want someone who gets along with Aden, has a sense of humor and who likes you for you? Damn. Octavia, do you know anyone who fits that description?" Raven pretends to be thinking it over and Octavia also looks deep in thought.

Clarke wants to kill the both of them.

"Nobody springs to mind. What about you, Clarke? Do you know anyone that could be the perfect match for Lexa?" Octavia smiles at her innocently.

She's thankful Lexa seems to be mostly oblivious to her friends antics, not having spent enough time with them to know when they're being sarcastic bitches.

"I'm sure Lexa is more than capable of finding her own date," she replies, deflecting the question. 

Lexa smiles at her and she forgets to be mad for a second. Now that Clarke has the time to really look at her, she can see Lexa's eyes are slightly brighter and her cheeks are a light pink, probably from the alcohol. It's almost unfair how beautiful she looks. The green shirt she's wearing makes her eyes all the more striking and Clarke knows she's a goner.

"We're actually trying to get Clarke laid," Raven comments and yeah, Clarke can't wait until they're alone so she can tell her friend that they are no longer actually friends.

"Oh?" Lexa fixes her with a questioning gaze that she avoids.

"Yeah," Octavia answers for her, "Clarke is pretty useless when it comes to dating."

"I wouldn't necessarily use the word 'useless'," she tries to defend herself.

"Well, I would. Remind me how your love life is going currently?" Raven says, subtly flickering her eyes toward Lexa.

"So, what _is_ Clarke's type? I asked her earlier but she didn't really give me an answer," Lexa asks.

Clarke lets out a long groan. She can only imagine what her friends are going to say in answer to this one.

"Well, Clarke is bisexual, but I think she's leaning towards the _fairer sex_ at the moment," Octavia says.

"Oh, definitely," Raven chimes in. "I'd say she has a thing for brunettes too."

"Yes! Clarke _loves_ brunettes, especially paired with green eyes. That's a winning combination," Octavia agrees and Clarke could really do with another drink right about now.

"But you know what Clarke really loves? Nerds. She's a sucker for smart girls," Raven says seriously.

"Really?" Lexa asks, surprised. 

"The nerd one is a recent development," Octavia adds.

"Raven, I think it's your turn to get the drinks. Octavia, why don't you go with her and help carry them," Clarke suggests, but the look she sends their way makes it clear they don't have a choice in the matter.

"Sure, Princess. I could do with a bathroom break anyway," Raven smiles, standing from her chair.

"Would you like another beer, Lexa?" Octavia asks, pointing towards Lexa's now empty beer bottle.

"Sure, why not. Thanks." Lexa smiles and Octavia follows Raven, leaving just the two of them.

"Are you sure you want to have another drink? My friends are even more annoying when they're drunk," she says, exasperated with their antics.

"I thought they were quite entertaining," Lexa says, smirk in place. 

"The novelty will wear off, I promise."

"I did find one thing particularly interesting. The way they described your 'type' was oddly specific."

"Yeah?" Clarke mentally rolls her eyes at herself for being unable to say anything more eloquent, or at least something to distract Lexa from this trail of thought.

"What color would you say my eyes are, Clarke?"

Clarke curses that she's already finished her drink and can't use it to delay answering the question.

"I haven't really noticed. Maybe hazel?" 

"Without sounding arrogant, would you consider me smart?" Lexa continues without missing a beat.

"You're a lawyer, so obviously you're book smart."

"I'm smart enough to know when your friends are describing me and to recognize the death glares you threw their way," Lexa counters. 

"Why didn't things work out with your date?" Clarke decides to turn the tables.

"Because all of the qualities I listed off to your friends earlier apply to you, Clarke," Lexa responds, giving her an intense look.

"Are you saying what I think you're saying?" she asks, trying not to sound too hopeful. 

"My date told me to 'get my shit together' and tell you how I felt."

"And? How do you feel?" Clarke looks deep into Lexa's eyes, trying to see if the affection she feels is mirrored back at her.

Before Lexa can answer her question, Octavia and Raven arrive back with their drinks. 

"So, what did we miss?" Raven asks as she takes a sip of her drink, oblivious to the conversation she's interrupted.

"I was asking Lexa if she could keep me out of jail if I decided to kill one of my friends," Clarke replies with a huff and Lexa laughs next to her.

***

"Is Raven single?" she asks Clarke.

They're currently sharing a taxi on their way home after being kicked out of the bar at closing. Lexa didn't think this would be how her night would go, but she can't complain. Raven and Octavia had made her feel more than welcome, regaling her with stories of Clarke in high school and college. It was interesting to hear what she had been like when she was younger. Raven had even pulled up a picture on her phone of Clarke with pink tipped hair. Octavia had described it as Clarke's 'rebellious' stage.

"Why, are you interested?" Clarke answers her question with one of her own.

"No, not for me, for Anya." 

"I hadn't though about it, but yeah, those two are probably perfect for each other," Clarke rolls her eyes. "So, we didn't really get to finish our conversation earlier, about how you felt?"

Lexa rests her head against the back of her seat. "Surely you've figured it out by now, Clarke. I'm not the only one who's smart."

"I don't want to talk in riddles anymore, Lexa. Can you tell me what happened with your date?" Clarke asks earnestly.

"Costia saw us talking at the bar. She could tell that I have feelings for you and I didn't want to lead her on or lie, so we decided to just be friends."

"I was jealous earlier, when Anya let slip that you were going on a date. I wished it was me you were going out with," Clarke says and Lexa's heart starts to beat faster.

"I wished it was you, too," she replies, turning her head towards Clarke.

"Where do we go from here?" She can't be sure, but the space between them seems to be getting smaller.

"What if we discuss things properly when we're sober and have had more time to think?" she suggests, trying to be responsible.

"If I agree to postpone our talk, for now, will you find a way to keep me quiet?" Clarke questions her and it feels like a challenge. 

They're so close now that she can see how blue Clarke's eyes are and how those eyes keep darting to her lips. 

"I'm sure I can find a way," Lexa whispers before closing the distance between them and kissing Clarke softly.

Their lips move together, slowly and in tandem. It's perfect and Lexa wonders why she thought it was a good idea to fight her feelings when they could have been doing this sooner. Clarke's lips encompass her bottom one perfectly and she reaches her hand up to cup the back of Clarke's neck, holding her close. 

The night ended up being more perfect than she ever could have imagined.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks to everyone who is reading and/or leaving kudos, it's appreciated. Thanks for the feedback too, it's good to know how it's being received! :)


	9. Chapter 9

It's late by the time Lexa gets home. She expects Aden to have gone to bed long ago and Anya to have hijacked her bed, but the scene that greets her when she arrives home from her night out is something quite different. 

"It's almost 1am," she says, entering the living room. The two of them freeze like deer caught in headlights. "Aden, you should have been in bed hours ago." He at least has the decency to look sheepish.

"He wanted to wait up for you and I wanted to kick his butt at video games," Anya shrugs and Lexa has to count to three in her head before responding.

"You're supposed to be the responsible one here," she sighs.

"I _am_ responsible. I gave him some energy drinks to make sure he could stay awake properly."

" _What?_ "

"I'm kidding, Commander. Relax."

She rolls her eyes at her friend's attempt at humor and flops onto the unoccupied armchair. The night seems to be catching up with her now that she's finally home. 

"So, don't leave us hanging, how was your date?" Anya asks, unpausing the video game so that they can continue finishing whatever level they're on.

"It was okay," she replies, trying to deflect the question.

"Like you said, it's almost 1am. You don't spend hours with someone if you didn't hit it off."

"Actually, I only spent part of the time with Costia. The rest of the night I spent with Clarke and her friends," she says, pretending to be fascinated with her nails so she can avoid looking directly at Anya.

"Clarke?" Anya questions, pausing the game again. 

"Yes, Clarke." She can see where this conversation is heading and decides to send Aden off to bed before the inquisition starts. "Aden, save the game and head to bed, okay? I don't want you to be too tired for your match tomorrow."

She expects him to put up a fight and give her puppy eyes until she agrees to let him stay up for another half an hour, but he doesn't protest at all. Instead, he saves the game and turns the console off, putting both controllers away dutifully.

"Night, kid," Anya says, holding up her hand for a high five, which Aden happily provides.

Aden then turns towards her and places his arms around her, hugging tightly. She hugs him back just as tightly, happy to be on the receiving end of the affection she has missed the past few days. 

"Sleep well," she whispers and breaks the hug by ruffling his hair, a sure fire way to get him to retreat. 

As soon as they hear the door to Aden's bedroom click closed, Anya wastes no time in picking up their conversation about her night out.

"What happened with Clarke?" Anya asks her eagerly.

"She was at the same bar with Octavia and Raven. I joined them for a few drinks, no big deal," she tries to downplay it, closing her eyes so they won't give her away.

"Bull _shit_. If you joined them for a few drinks...What happened with your date?"

"We mutually decided that we're better off as friends."

"Oh. She realized you're a grumpy asshole and could do better? I understand now. Your pride is wounded. That's why you don't want to talk about it," Anya guesses.

Her eyes flash open. "What? No. She liked me just fine, thank you very much."

"Ha!" Anya exclaims, triumphantly. "I already know you liked her, or you wouldn't have gone out with her in the first place. So, if she liked you back, there has to be another reason for just agreeing to be friends." Anya pauses momentarily before sending her a smug grin, "Shit. Lexa, I thought you were supposed to be a decent lawyer? I just owned you."

She sits there, momentarily puzzled. Anya had played her so well, knowing her pride wouldn't take kindly to the insinuation that it was her personality which caused her date to come to a premature end.

"I'm under the influence of alcohol, it doesn't count," she huffs. "Fine. I bumped into Clarke at the bar and Costia realized I had feelings for her."

"Really? Shit, that's priceless. Someone who hardly even knows you can see the heart-eyes you throw at Clarke."

"I don't have 'heart-eyes'," she balks. 

"There's no need to be defensive, Clarke looks at you the exact same way. It's adorable and sickening at the same time."

Usually she would argue Anya's claims that her feelings for Clarke are reciprocated, but the memory of the kiss they had shared in the taxi was still very fresh in her mind and she knew she'd be lying. 

"We shared a taxi together and we kissed, okay?" She decides to bite the bullet, knowing there's no point in dragging it out any longer.

"Finally! It's exhausting trying to get you to realize how amazing Clarke is for you," Anya says, looking relieved and excited all at once.

"I'm not sure what's going to happen between us, so don't get too excited."

She's nervous at the thought of talking to Clarke about what happens next. There's no doubt in her mind that she wants to have a relationship with her, but it's not that simple.

"Lexa, this girl is good for you. I get that you have some reservations, but try not to fuck it up," Anya pleads. 

The last thing she wants to do is fuck anything up, that's the point. She wants to tread lightly and make sure they're both on the same page before risking everything. Monday seems so far away and she wonders when they'll get time to themselves to actually talk. 

***

"Pile on!" Raven shouts.

Clarke has exactly zero time to react. She's startled awake by both of her friends jumping on top of her, giving her their own version of a wake up call.

"What the _hell_?" She struggles to throw them off her back. "Octavia, you better give me that key back right now!"

"It's too late, I've already made copies," Octavia says, making absolutely no effort to remove herself from on top of Clarke.

"Raven, your knee brace is digging into me!" Clarke whines.

"Sorry," Raven says, moving to sit beside her instead and Octavia follows suit, sitting on the other side of Clarke.

"We brought you coffee," Octavia offers, gesturing towards her bedside table.

"And a ham and cheese croissant," Raven adds.

"You brought me coffee and breakfast food?" She is definitely suspicious any time her friends bring her food without being prompted.

"Why do you sound so surprised? We're your best friends, it's what we do," Raven says, looking to Octavia who nods in agreement at this assessment.

"Yeah, and if those things make you more willing to tell us what happened with Lexa after we left, then that's just a coincidence," Octavia shrugs, eyes twinkling.

"You two are so transparent," Clarke sighs, rolling over so she can sit up properly. "Hand me the goods and I'll start talking."

Octavia hands her the cup of coffee and Raven unwraps the croissant. At her first sip of coffee, Clarke feels warmth spread through her body and she's grateful her friends had the foresight to come with breakfast.

"We left the bar not long after you guys did and shared a taxi home," she mumbles through a bite of her croissant.

"Clarke, we bought that croissant from a hipster joint and it was _way_ over priced, so I'm gonna need you to give me something juicier than the transport you used to get home," Raven says, rolling her eyes.

"We kissed," she admits, smiling widely at the memory.

"It's official, I'm the best match-maker ever," Octavia announces.

"That's what I'm talking about! Go, Griffin," Raven says, bumping her shoulder.

"We still need to talk about everything, but I'm optimistic," she replies, happily taking another bite of her breakfast.

"At last, you'll have a girl in your bed that isn't us," Raven jokes, pulling Clarke's hand containing the croissant towards her mouth so she can steal a bite.

Before she can scold Raven for eating her food, her text message tone goes off and she has to reach over Octavia to grab her phone.

"Let me guess, it's lover girl," Raven says, trying to look over shoulder.

**Aden - Hey, do you want to come to my match this afternoon?**

"No, it's Aden," she answers, smiling broadly. He'd messaged her a couple of times before and the novelty still hadn't worn off. She delights in receiving texts from him since it's almost like an actual conversation. She's about to reply to his message when she receives another.

**Lexa - I tried to stop Aden from asking you to his game, but he's stubborn.**

**Clarke - Why did you try and stop him? Do you not want me there?**

Clarke begins to worry that Lexa is having second thoughts about last night. 

**Lexa - Of course I want you to come. I just didn't want you to feel pressured because of what happened last night. Especially if you woke up with any regrets.**

**Clarke - I don't regret anything. Do you?**

**Lexa - Not one bit. If anything, I want to do it all again.**

**Clarke - Good. Well, I'm not doing anything later so I'll text Aden that I'll be there. [happy face emoji]**

**Lexa - Okay. See you later, Clarke.**

"Your etiquette whilst having two attractive women in your bed is really poor," Raven huffs, bored.

"Sorry. Aden wants me to go to his soccer match later and Lexa was checking that it was okay," Clarke explains.

She sends a quick text to Aden, letting him know that she's free and would love to attend his soccer match. He replies with a smiley face emoji and Clarke smirks, knowing she's converted him to using them. Lexa's going to hate that.

"Actually, Clarke, I've been meaning to ask you something. What do you want to do for your birthday? It's a week today and parties don't plan themselves," Octavia points out.

"I haven't thought about it... I don't really want a party. How about we just have a small get together instead?" A low-key birthday sounds more appealing this year. She'd actually like to remember the day, for once.

"Okay, but we'll do it at mine so you don't have to organize anything or clean up afterwards," Octavia suggests.

"Sounds good," Clarke says, taking a sip of her rapidly cooling coffee.

"Who should we invite?" Raven asks, stretching out on Clarke's bed like it's her own.

"Apart from you guys and Lincoln? Bellamy, Monty, Jasper..." she lists off, wracking her brain.

"What about Lexa?" Octavia asks.

"I'll ask her later," Clarke answers, slightly wary. "I don't want to scare her off with meeting my whole friendship group at once."

"More importantly, now that you two have significant others, who are we going to invite that I can get it on with?" Raven asks, looking at Clarke expectantly.

"Actually, I do have someone in mind," Clarke answers coyly. She has a feeling Anya and Raven would hit it off, so this is the perfect opportunity to set them up.

"Are you going to tell me who it is?" Raven asks.

"No. Now, if you could both kindly get the hell out so I can shower..." Clarke gently shoves Raven, wanting her to move so she can get out of bed.

"If you don't tell me who it is, your birthday present is going to be shit," Raven says, not moving from her spot.

"That's a risk I'm willing to take. Having you send me frustrated texts all week about who it is will be gift enough," Clarke laughs, shimmying her way down the middle of the bed since Raven refuses to move and Octavia has burrowed her legs under the covers.

"You two better be gone by the time I get out of the shower," Clarke shouts, shutting the door behind her.

***  


"Hey, you're here," Lexa says, smiling at Clarke. She had been watching Aden and the rest of his team warm up before the match. "Wow, you're even early."

"I'll have you know, I'm much better at keeping time now that my boss expects me to arrive half an hour early to everything," Clarke rolls her eyes.

"Looks like I'm having a good influence on you," she replies, bumping their shoulders together.

Aden finishes his warm up and jogs over to them, water bottle in hand.

"Hey, superstar. Are you starting today?" Clarke asks and Aden nods eagerly. "Awesome, I don't have to yell at your coach then."

"That doesn't mean you can't yell at him anyway," she says, smirking. 

"I thought you were supposed to be a 'good influence' on me," Clarke asks with one of her eyebrows slightly raised.

"Anyway," Lexa says, raising her voice to indicate a change of topic. "The game is going to start soon, Aden." She starts to shoo him away before Coach Collins can come over and use him as an excuse to talk to them, specifically Clarke. "Good luck!"

Once the game starts, Lexa is relieved. Nothing seems to have changed after last night. Her and Clarke exchange lighthearted banter and conversation, just like they usually do. There's no awkwardness between them. Instead, it feels like there's almost a giddy kind of air around them. It's the same, but different, all at once. 

"If you don't have any plans, why don't you come over for dinner? We can hang out and watch a movie with Aden. After he goes to bed, we can talk." Lexa is keen to know where they stand. 

"Yeah, I'd like that," Clarke agrees, smiling at her softly. "Are you going to cook for me?"

"No chance. I missed this weeks lesson and I'm nowhere near competent yet." She may have gotten the hang of chopping and stirring, her confidence growing each week, but she didn't feel ready to tackle a meal on her own. "We can get a take-away."

***

"Remind me again why I let you two pick the movie," Clarke groans. Was it too much to ask for a comedy?

"Because it was two against one and we live in a democracy," Lexa replies.

"Most people watch movies as entertainment," Clarke argues, folding her arms petulantly.

"This _is_ entertaining, Clarke. Global warming is a very real issue," Lexa says, eyes glued to the screen.

Clarke lets the movie become background noise and continues her previous daydreaming. Though the movie itself didn't interest her, the other two occupants in the room did. Aden was happily munching on some popcorn, just as intrigued by the movie as his sister. He had opted to sit in the armchair, which had left her to sit on the couch with Lexa. Even though there was plenty of space to sit on opposite ends of the couch, they had both gravitated towards the middle. She could feel Lexa's warm body next to her and had to stop herself from reaching to pull the other girl closer.

Lexa had let Aden decide what they had for dinner, since his team had won the match. He had opted for pizza, which was his favorite. The empty boxes were now strewn on the table, no leftovers in sight. She was amazed Aden had any room left for popcorn. 

"Clarke," Lexa whispers, "you're not watching the movie."

"I found something better to watch," she replies, roaming her eyes deliberately over Lexa.

The way Lexa's cheeks flush does nothing to persuade her to look away.

"It's almost over," Lexa replies, focussing back on the screen.

"Aden, throw me some popcorn," she requests. She's still full from dinner but the smell of popcorn is irresistible.

Before Lexa can tell Aden not to actually throw it, he's already lifted his arm to throw a couple of kernels her way. His throwing isn't as good as his kicking. He ends up hitting Lexa in the face with popcorn.

"Really?" Lexa asks, picking up the popcorn that has now fallen into her lap.

Aden shrugs at Lexa in response, but when his gaze meets Clarke's, they share a smirk.

"Hey, that's my popcorn," Clarke accuses.

"It's mine now," Lexa says, munching on the popcorn obnoxiously. 

"Fine," she huffs. "Aden, can you pass me some more popcorn? Try to miss your sister's head this time."

"No, don't throw the-," Lexa's protests are cut off by more popcorn hitting her in the face.

Clarke, now more prepared, snatches the popcorn from Lexa's lap and quickly pops it in her mouth. 

"That's it," Lexa says, standing and walking over to Aden who is now clutching the bowl of popcorn tightly to his chest. 

Lexa places one hand on the bowl and uses the other to tickle him mercilesly. Aden lets out a high pitched squeal and it tapers off into a laugh. Clarke watches Lexa pause, seemingly surprised by the noise Aden has just made. She wonders if it's the first time Lexa has heard any sound from her brother in weeks. Lexa eventually shakes herself out of whatever thoughts she's having and steals the bowl from Aden. When the bowl is in her posession, she brings it back to the couch with her. Clarke frowns when she realizes Lexa has opted to sit in the corner of the couch, furthest away from her.

"Don't pout, Clarke. You encouraged him," Lexa chides, bringing a handful of popcorn to her mouth.

Without exchanging any words, Aden and Clarke lock eyes, nod once at each other, and both pounce towards Lexa at the same time.

"Ah!" Lexa shouts.

Clarke attacks Lexa's sides while Aden tickles her feet. It's not long before Lexa pleads for mercy.

"Okay, Okay! Have the popcorn back!"

Aden removes himself from the floor and takes the offered bowl with a smug smile. Clarke high fives him and he sits next to her, placing the bowl between them so they can share it.

***

"So, now that your brother is safely in bed, should we have that talk?" Clarke asks and Lexa tenses.

She had been looking forward to spending some one on one time with Clarke, but she's wary about the conversation they're about to have. 

"Yeah," she replies, turning to face Clarke on the couch and tucking her legs underneath her.

"Do you want to start, or should I?"

"I will," Lexa answers. She thinks it might be best to voice her feelings before she chickens out. "As I said, I don't regret last night, but I do have some concerns." 

"Okay," Clarke says, listening attentively.

"My first priority is Aden, it has to be. You've been so good for him, Clarke. I mean, did you see him laugh earlier? I haven't heard him laugh in over a month," she says, remembering how amazing the sound was.

"I know. I've actually heard him laugh before, when we were watching a movie," Clarke says. "I was going to tell you, but he was kind of scared when it happened and I didn't want to put any pressure on him."

"I'm not mad," she smiles reassuringly, "it just reinforces my point. I don't want to risk the bond you two have. I can't afford to be selfish."

"Okay, I see your point, but Lexa, we've already kind of crossed that line. I know it's important to you that Aden has someone else in his life, someone who can understand him. I can't promise that everything will work out, but I can promise that I won't let anything affect Aden."

"You can't promise that, Clarke. Relationships can get messy."

"If we can both agree that if it doesn't work out we will remain civil to each other, then I _can_ promise that," Clarke argues.

"Everyone says that in the beginning," she scoffs. Being friends with exes is harder than it sounds.

"Contrary to popular belief, I can be pretty mature when I want to be. No matter what happens between us, I know you'd put Aden first, which means you'd act professional towards me at the very least. I respect Aden, and you, just as much."

"So you're saying that we should give this a go, on the promise that if it doesn't work out we both agree to maintain a professional relationship?" Lexa tries to wrap her head around it.

"The only reason I see so much of you is because I enjoy spending time together. Realistically, if we broke, I'd hardly see you unless it was briefly before I went home. I would still be able to pick Aden up from school and look after him, just as I do now," Clarke reasons.

"When you put it like that..." Lexa trails off, unable to come up with a worthy counter argument. 

"I have the same worries as you do, just for slightly different reasons. My comic book won't be finished for another few months, I don't want to mess this up and end up with no income. Plus, I adore Aden."

"He's easy to love," she replies.

"Are there any other concerns you want to talk about?"

" _If_ we were to give this a shot, I don't want to tell Aden. At least, not yet. I want to be sure before involving him."

"Okay, that's doable," Clarke replies, nodding slightly.

"Are you sure this is what you want, Clarke?" She can't imagine dating someone who comes with a fully fledged teenager on the side is that appealing. "You're kind of getting a two for one deal."

"Lexa, I'm sure."

"It's going to be hard for us to find time to spend together, just the two of us. Especially right now, since we're not telling Aden."

"Stop trying to talk me out of this. We can make it work if we really try. I know _I'm_ all in. So, that leaves it up to you," Clarke says, gazing at her intently.

Lexa takes a second to weigh things up. Most of her concerns have been appeased with Clarke's assurance they can be civil if it doesn't work out between them. They may not be able to spend as much time together as a couple as they would if Aden wasn't a factor, but they see each other almost every day, which is definitely more than the average fledgling couple.

"I'm in," she says, feeling the tension in her shoulders melt away as she finally allows herself to go after what she wants. The smile Clarke sends her way is proof enough that she's doing the right thing. That smile could light up the darkest of rooms.

"Does that mean I can kiss you now? You made eating popcorn oddly sexy," Clarke says, inching closer.

"Actually, now you've brought it up, I'm not sure I should be kissing you. You conspired against me with my own brother!" 

Clarke doesn't defend her actions, just kneels on the couch in front her.

"Are you sure I can't be forgiven?" Clarke husks, leaning forward so they can breathe the same air, supporting herself by resting her hands on Lexa's folded legs.

"Fuck it," she says, closing the distance between them. 

Clarke's lips are just as soft as she remembers and Lexa mentally pats herself on the back for not fucking things up as Anya had warned her not to. 

"Actually," Clarke says, pulling back from their kiss so suddenly that Lexa is left kissing at air. "I have one request of my own. I have no problem keeping it PG when Aden is around, but after he goes to bed and we're alone, we should kiss as often as possible."

"I have absolutely no objection to that," she responds, placing her hand behind Clarke's head to guide their lips back together. 

Before their lips can touch, Clarke pulls back again.

"What are you doing next Saturday night?" Clarke asks and Lexa lets out a frustrated huff.

"Nothing. Aden's soccer game is in the morning that's it."

"How do you feel about coming to a small get together? Aden can come too, since I was thinking of asking Anya to come as well."

"What's the occasion?"

"My birthday," Clarke answers. "I know it's a bit soon to be meeting all of my friends, but I want to set Anya up with Raven and I'd really like you to be there. No pressure, though," Clarke ends her explanation somewhat nervously.

"I wouldn't miss an opportunity to set Anya up and give her as much shit as she's given me over the last few weeks," she replies, running her hand along Clarke's back soothingly.

"What do you mean?" Clarke questions.

"She's been telling me how perfect you are for me ever since she met you at dinner," Lexa replies, rolling her eyes.

"I knew I liked her for a reason," Clarke replies smugly.

"Yeah, she's great," Lexa replies, moving the conversation along. "Now that I've agreed to come to your birthday thing, can we get back to the kissing or do you have some more questions?"

"No more questions."

Lexa cups Clarke's cheek and this time, without any interruptions, their lips meet in a sweet kiss.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The next chapter will be Clarke's birthday and it's going to be fluffy as hell. Thanks to those who take the time to leave comments! It really is appreciated. Just giving this a read or kudos etc is encouraging, so thank you :)


	10. Chapter 10

"You know, it's kind of hard to draw with only one hand. I feel unbalanced," Clarke complains. 

Clarke was really enjoying their newfound closeness. Over the last couple of days, they had stolen plenty of kisses and become a lot more comfortable being in each other's personal space. Their dynamic hadn't changed that much in _theory_. From the outside looking in, it could appear that they were just good friends, as they were before they decided to act on their feelings. It was all in the minor details. Lexa no longer texted her during the day for updates about Aden. Instead, she had been getting texts over the last couple of days 'just because'. Those kind of texts you send in the beginning of a relationship, because you can't get enough of the other person and you just want to know how their day is going. It was also in the way they now occupied space together. Clarke enjoyed letting her touch linger whenever she could be sure Aden wouldn't notice. Once he went to bed, it was hard to tell where one of them began and the other finished. They enjoyed sitting as close together as physically possible.

"We're compromising, Clarke," Lexa reminds her.

Clarke is attempting to get some work on her comic done. She's using the arm rest of the couch to draw on, while her free hand is occupied with the girl resting in her lap. Lexa had wanted to watch some space show and Clarke, instead of wasting an hour of her life, had decided drawing was a much better use of her time. The only problem was, that Lexa was thoroughly distracting. In the best way possible. Lexa had opted to rest her head on Clarke's legs while she watched TV and had grabbed her spare hand to hold close to her chest. This left Clarke still able to draw, but unable to hold her book steady properly.

"It's only been three days since we first kissed and you're already needy, who would have thought?" She asks, amused that Lexa already craves her touch.

"I am _not_ needy," Lexa huffs, forgetting her space programme for the time being and turning onto her back so she can gaze up at Clarke. "Your hands are just really soft."

"You just want to hold my hand because it's soft?" Clarke asks, looking down at the brunette skeptically.

"Anyway, while I have your attention...Is there anything specific that you'd like for your birthday?" Lexa asks, swiftly changing the subject.

"Lexa, you don't have to get me anything. You've already agreed to come to Octavia's on Saturday," Clarke reassures. Having all of her friends around her is more than gift enough, as cheesy as that sounds.

"So, you're saying that all you want for your birthday is my company?" 

"I guess you could say that, yeah," Clarke replies. 

"Now who's needy?" Lexa asks smugly. 

"You're such a goddamn lawyer," Clarke says, rolling her eyes.

"Seriously though, Clarke, can you give me any ideas? I want to get you something that you'll like." Lexa mumbles the last part, almost like she's embarrassed.

Clarke carefully places her pencil on top of the sketchpad and diverts her full attention to the vulnerable girl looking up at her. 

"Lexa," she says, leaning down to place a kiss on her forehead, "stop stressing. I don't need material things to be happy. Just having you and Aden there will make my night."

"Okay," Lexa sighs reluctantly.

Clarke feels a tug on her hand, that is still in Lexa's possession, pulling her closer. 

"Birthday kisses can be your gift. I'm generous though, so lets make it _unlimited_ birthday _week_ kisses," Lexa suggests.

"You're a dork," she laughs.

She leans down anyway, placing a light kiss on Lexa's lips. The angle is awkward but it doesn't bother either of them. Clarke thinks she might already be addicted to the feel of the other girls lips against her own. Yeah, if this was the only gift she got for her entire birthday, it wouldn't bother her one bit.

***

"So, you're definitely going to be there on Saturday?" Lexa asks Anya, the two of them having found time to have lunch together.

"I already said 'yes' when you texted me the other day. Why are you so concerned with me being there?" Anya asks, looking at her suspiciously.

"For moral support," Lexa answers, which isn't a lie, but not the exact reason. Clarke had been giddily receiving texts from Raven all week, demanding to know who she was being set up with.

"Oh, right. You're meeting your girlfriend's entire friendship group in one night," Anya laughs, before taking a bite of her sandwich.

"She's not my girlfriend," she mumbles, not entirely comfortable with that term yet. "We're dating."

"Lexa, you useless lesbian. Dating is basically girlfriends anyway," Anya points out, suppressing the urge to roll her eyes.

"I don't want to assume..." she trails off. It's not that she doesn't want Clarke to be her girlfriend. She just felt like she should probably ask first.

"Such a gentlewoman. So, what are you getting your not-girlfriend for her birthday? No pressure, but if you two end up together forever, she'll always remember what you got her for her first birthday."

"No pressure, _at all_ ," she scoffs. "I've actually asked Aden to do some digging and see if he can come up with some suggestions."

"You really are useless. Definitely ask Clarke to be your girlfriend before she realizes how utterly clueless you are."

"I don't know why we're friends, you're no help at all," Lexa gripes, taking an overly aggressive bite of her salad.

"What about some flowers? You can't go wrong with those," Anya suggests.

"Flowers are too generic. I want Clarke to know I put thought into whatever it is," Lexa explains. "At this rate, I'll have put more thought into what gift to get her than I have actual work. My assistant caught me looking for gift ideas twice this morning."

"I'm sure you'll think of something," Anya says reassuringly. "If all else fails, just give her a birthday card with cash inside. Who doesn't love money?"

Lexa doesn't dignify Anya's suggestion with a response.

***

Clarke was making really good progress on her comic. The relaxed atmosphere of Lexa's apartment allowed her to work without pressure. She occasionally became jaded when working in her own apartment, spending most of the day inside. Before working for Lexa, she would work on commissions _and_ her own comic, all in that same space. Now, she works from the comfort of Lexa's couch, music flowing softly from her phone which is sitting on the kitchen bench. Aden sometimes joins her which brings her a welcome reprieve.

"Aden?" she asks, hearing noise behind her. 

Clarke turns her head to look over her shoulder and spots Aden holding her phone, looking shifty.

"What are you doing?"

Aden points to the phone in his hand and then turns it slightly so he can access the buttons on the side which turn down the volume.

"Oh, I'm sorry, was my music too loud?" 

He nods in response before walking into the kitchen, probably looking for an afternoon snack. She hears him shuffling through pantry, unsuccessful in his search.

"If you're searching for the Oreos, I have some bad news for you... Lexa ate them all," she says.

Aden stops rifling through the pantry to look at her from behind the door, his arms crossed looking thoroughly unimpressed.

"Your sister has a sweet tooth," she explains, avoiding his gaze. 

Aden shuts the pantry door and walks over to where she's pretending to be concentrating extra hard on her drawing of the dropship. He doesn't say anything, just stands in front of her, waiting for her to break.

"Okay, it was _me_. I ate them all. I'll buy you some more tomorrow," she promises. 

Aden smirks down at her, eerily similar to Lexa's own smug smirk that is all too often directed her way. Seemingly satisfied by the promise of replacement Oreos in the near future, Aden leaves her to continue drawing. Before she can focus back on her work, Lexa texts her.

**Lexa - Is it six o'clock yet?**  
**Clarke - I thought you were supposed to be a workaholic?**  
**Lexa - That was before.**  
**Clarke - Before what?**  
**Lexa - Before I had people to come home to.**  
**Clarke - Would it make you feel better if I made dinner?**  
**Lexa - Hmm. Would I feel better knowing I had a delicious meal AND a gorgeous blonde waiting for me? Yes and no. Time already seems to be going slower.**

"Aden," she questions, looking to her side where the boy is hanging over by the door, "what are you up to?"

**Clarke - Your brother is acting really weird.**  
**Lexa - More so than usual?**  
**Clarke - He's tidying up the shoes by the door.**  
**Lexa - I'm sure he's just trying to keep the place tidy. Which is no easy feat when you're around.**  
**Clarke - What's that supposed to mean?**  
**Lexa - I found bits of paper under the couch cushions last week.**  
**Clarke - I'm an artist. Being messy is part of my aesthetic.**  
**Lexa - I'm sure that's the reason behind it.**  
**Clarke - I'm going to start dinner now. Your kitchen will be extra messy when you get home, out of spite.**

***

The next day finds Lexa back at work, swiveling in her desk chair while she looks over the piece of paper Aden had handed her that morning.

****

**_

Things Clarke Likes

_**

****

_* Listening to music_  
_* Singing and dancing along to music_  
_* Oreos_  
_* Her size 9 white converse shoes_  
_* Reality TV_  
_* Watching me play soccer_  
_* Cooking (specifically Friday nights with us)_  
_* Board games_  
_* Yelling at Coach Collins_  
_* You (she likes me more though)_

Lexa laughs at the last line that he has written. Hopefully she can use this list to come up with some birthday ideas. A plan is already rapidly forming in her mind, though it's slightly risky. The only thing is, it would require her leaving work early on Friday. 

Lexa places the list down on her desk and walks out of her office to her assistant's desk, which is just outside. 

"Niylah, could you see if it's possible to clear my Friday afternoon? If I have any meetings, reschedule them for tomorrow or Monday," she requests.

If she could reschedule her Friday meetings, it would leave her afternoon free. Any prep or other work she had she could try and fit into today's schedule, staying late if need be. Lexa wanted to do something special for Clarke and there was no way she could pull it off unless she finished work early on Friday. She'd have to let Clarke know she would be home late that night. 

*** 

"Hey," Lexa greets her, finally arriving home from work.

"Hey, you're home late," Clarke replies, placing her sketchbook on the coffee table. 

"I know, I'm sorry. I had a bit of extra work I needed to get through," Lexa explains.

"Aden's already asleep. He wanted to wait up for you, but I caught him yawning too many times and used my best 'authority voice' to send him to bed."

"Oh? What does this 'authority voice' sound like and when do I get to hear it?" Lexa asks, leaning down to kiss Clarke in further greeting.

"If you're lucky, one day you'll get to find out," she teases, grabbing the front of Lexa's jacket to pull her down so she's straddling her lap. 

Lexa closes the distance between them instantly and Clarke kisses her back with equal enthusiasm. Their kisses are soft, but insistent. Both of them are happy to finally be in each other's company again after a long day apart. Clarke runs her hand under Lexa's shirt and rubs circles on the soft skin she finds there. 

After a few minutes, Lexa breaks their kiss but doesn't remove herself from Clarke's lap. Clarke is more than content with their current position, her hand still tracing patterns on Lexa's lower back.

"How was your day?" Lexa asks, brushing hair away from Clarke's face.

"It was good. Apart from Raven breaking down my door this morning before she went to work. I caved and told her I was setting her up with a girl, but I didn't tell her who it was," she replies, smiling at the memory of a disgruntled Raven at her door, demanding answers. Raven wasn't known for her patience and she didn't like surprises either. "How was your day?"

"Busy," Lexa breathes out and Clarke uses her other hand to lightly squeeze her thigh in sympathy. "You don't need to pick Aden up on Friday, by the way."

"I don't?" Clarke questions.

"I have Friday afternoon off, so I can pick him up."

"Oh," Clarke says, slightly deflated at the prospect of missing yet another Friday night with two of her favorite people.

"That doesn't mean we can't have dinner together," Lexa points out, picking up on the change in her demeanor. "You can come over around 7pm and we'll cook together."

"Okay, that's doable," she agrees, good mood back in an instant. "Why don't you get changed and I'll heat up some leftovers for you?"

"You're the best girl-" Lexa stops mid-sentence before letting out a cough. "You're the best, Clarke."

"Smooth," Clarke laughs, amused at Lexa's slip-up. She wouldn't mind being Lexa's girlfriend _officially_ , but she wasn't too hung up on labels. "You can't change if you're still on top of me."

"Hmm. No, I can't. I could always _undress_ while still in your lap though," Lexa smirks.

Clarke bites her lip at the images flashing through her mind at Lexa's words.

"I'm kidding, Clarke. Well, this time. Maybe one day when Aden isn't here," Lexa winks, finally removing herself from Clarke's lap. 

It wasn't until a couple of minutes later, that Clarke shook herself out of her lustful thoughts and actually moved to heat Lexa up some dinner.

***

"Okay, here's the plan," Lexa says. She had picked Aden up from school, having gotten her work done, which left her able to leave work early that Friday and they had headed to the nearest shopping center. "I have an idea for a gift you can give to Clarke. We just have to find it first. Then we need to go pick out a few groceries for the dinner we'll be making later."

Aden looks highly skeptical at the mention of them cooking dinner.

"I know, I know. I'm not the best cook. But I _have_ improved and I want to do something nice for Clarke. She always cooks for us and I thought this would be a nice surprise," she explains. "I printed out a recipe for a simple pasta. All we need to do is follow the instructions and it will be fine."

Lexa was more than a little apprehensive at the prospect of making a meal for the three of them without it being a disaster. She hoped she'd be able to pull it off and not only surprise Clarke, but impress her, too.

"I was thinking we could buy her one of those fold out chairs. It would be your gift to Clarke in the hopes she'll come to your soccer games from now on. I wouldn't mind getting myself one as well."

Aden's skeptical look morphs into a much happier one at the prospect of Clarke attending his games. She knows he misses their parents presence at his matches and Clarke helps to fill the gap they left behind with her boisterous support.

"So, that's the plan. We find a kick-butt chair, but not one of those flimsy ones. Then, we get some ingredients I need for dinner and go home to start making it. Are you in?" 

Lexa holds out her hand for a high five and Aden doesn't leave her hanging. 

***

Clarke arrives at Lexa's apartment just after six o'clock. Lexa had told her to be there at seven, but she had received a strange text from Aden requesting her to come over as soon as possible. Without thinking twice, she had hopped into her car and driven over as fast as she could without speeding.

"Lexa," she calls out, entering the apartment, "Aden!"

Aden hears her arrival and appears from the kitchen, giving her a quick smile before leading her over to where Lexa is. 

"What are you doing?" Clarke questions, even though the answer is fairly obvious.

Lexa is standing at the cook-top, attempting to tame a rapidly smoking pan. Clarke had thought the plan was to cook together, as usual, but it seemed like Lexa had other ideas.

"I'm cooking," Lexa answers over her shoulder.

"Is this why you asked me to come over earlier?" She asks Aden and the boy nods, looking slightly panicked. "I thought we would be cooking together?" She directs at Lexa. She gestures for Aden to hang back while she steps closer to where Lexa is standing, looking quite frazzled.

"You cook for us all the time," Lexa says, finally turning to lock eyes with Clarke. "I wanted to do something nice for you, like a pre-birthday dinner. It's not going so well." Lexa wipes her hair away from her face, huffing slightly and Clarke finds it ridiculously endearing.

"That's very sweet, Lexa," she says, reaching out to squeeze her shoulder. "You haven't actually burnt anything yet, so it's not a disaster. If you're that determined to cook for me, how about I guide you from my spot at the counter? That way, I'm not actually cooking." 

Lexa smiles at her gratefully and Clarke takes that as her cue to take her seat, urging Aden to sit next to her and give Lexa some space to work.

"First, turn down the heat on the stove." Clarke noticed that the slightly smoking pan wasn't actually burning, but was close to it. "What are you making?"

"Pasta," Lexa answers.

"Okay, well you need to get the water boiling for the pasta. It won't take long, but it's a good idea to get it started while you make the sauce."

After a few minutes, Lexa seems to have visibly calmed down. The sight Clarke had walked in on could easily have been described as chaos. The kitchen counter had vegetables strewn all over it and it looked like a mess.

"Lexa," Clarke asks, spying a red patch next to the chopping board, "is that blood?"

"Yeah, I accidentally sliced my finger," Lexa grimaces.

"Are you okay?" Clarke vacates her seat in an instant, rushing to check Lexa's hand. 

"I'm fine," Lexa reassures her. "That first-aid box you made sure I had in the bathroom came in handy."

Clarke takes Lexa's hand delicately between her own and sees that her index finger is now covered in a children's band-aid.

"Were you all out of adult band-aids?" She smirks, fingers running gently over Lexa's hand.

"It was the adrenaline. I grabbed the first band-aid I could find."

Clarke has to resist the urge to place a kiss on Lexa's band-aid covered finger, but she's not sure Aden would buy that it was a strictly platonic thing to do.

"Maybe a glass of wine would make you feel better." Clarke reluctantly lets go of Lexa's hand and grabs two glasses from the cupboard. 

"Thanks, Clarke." Lexa uses her uninjured hand to stir the pasta. "Aden, could you set the table for me? Don't think I've forgotten that you're a traitor either."

"Why is he a traitor?" Clarke questions, while handing Lexa her glass of wine.

"I wanted to surprise you. Dinner was supposed to be ready for when you got here," Lexa informs her, glaring at the sauce as if it's personally offended her.

"It _was_ a surprise. I'm glad Aden texted me." Clarke smiles at Aden who is avoiding Lexa's gaze that is now on him. "This way I get to spend more time with you both. Making sure you don't cut yourself again is just an added bonus."

"Seeing you is _always_ a good thing," Lexa agrees quietly, so Aden can't hear. 

Clarke reaches out to link their hands together and angles her body so that if Aden looks up, he won't be able to see it. Lexa attempting to make dinner by herself is such a sweet gesture. She can't wait to thank Lexa properly when they're alone.

***

"I know you two let me win," Clarke says.

"We didn't!" Lexa defends. She had definitely gone easy on Clarke during their game of Scrabble, but she can't speak for Aden. 

"Not once have I won a game of Scrabble against either of you, until tonight. That can't be a coincidence," Clarke argues.

Dinner had turned out a lot better than she expected. She hadn't burnt anything and though her pasta wasn't the best any of them had ever tasted, it was slightly better than edible. Clarke hadn't stopped praising her throughout dinner and Lexa was sure she exaggerated her enthusiasm for Lexa's benefit. She appreciated it all the same.

"You're almost a year older," Lexa points out, noticing her kitchen clock reads 10:30pm. "Perhaps you're getting older and wiser."

"I'm sure that's it," Clarke says, rolling her eyes.

"Come on, let's move to the couch," Lexa suggests. They still hadn't left the dining table, even after Aden had bid them goodnight.

"If this is a trick to get me to watch Shark Week..." Clarke looks at her warily.

"I just want to talk, Clarke. We haven't really had a chance to talk much over the last couple of days."

"Wait, is this why you've been working late? Work didn't just give you this afternoon off, did they?" 

"Not exactly." Clarke takes a seat next to her on the couch and Lexa reaches out to link their fingers together. "I may have reorganized a couple of things to make sure I had enough time to go shopping and cook."

"You really didn't need to do that. Thank you," Clarke says, placing a hand on her cheek and kissing her softly. 

"Are you looking forward to your party tomorrow?"

"Yeah, it will be good to see everyone. It's rare these days that we can all get together at the same time." Clarke looks slightly wistful and Lexa only half understands, never really being the type to have more than a couple of close friends. "Are you nervous about meeting them all?"

"No," she scoffs, trying to appear unaffected by the thought of meeting all the important people in Clarke's life in one go. 

"I haven't told any of the others that I'm dating you. I hope that's okay. Obviously Octavia and Raven know, but I didn't want to tell anyone else in case they said anything in front of Aden."

"Of course that's okay." Lexa places a kiss on Clarke's cheek, grateful that she had the foresight to make sure her friends wouldn't accidentally spill the beans.

"Anya's definitely still coming, right?"

"As far as I know. She said she would be there when I asked her at lunch the other day, but I didn't want to text her again to check. She's already suspicious."

"If our best friends start dating, that means we can double date." Clarke smiles at her enthusiastically, clearly under the impression it would be fun. 

"Absolutely not. Anya is a pain in the ass at the best of times. Besides, you haven't even taken me out on a _single_ date yet."

"It depends what you classify as a 'date'. Technically, we've had dinner together a number of times."

"True, but I'm still not double dating with Anya."

"Okay, that's fair," Clarke replies, letting the subject drop. 

"How's your comic going?" Lexa asks, interested to hear if Clarke has been making any more progress.

"It's going well, except I'm having trouble with the Commander's character. I want him to be a ruthless leader, but I also want him to have a softer side. I'm having difficulty translating that."

"Is there a reason the Commander is male? I wouldn't mind reading about a two-dimensional female badass," Lexa says. She had enjoyed reading comics as a kid, but it always irritated her that most of the 'heroes' were men.

"There's no particular reason. I suppose I have a lot of powerful female characters already written and wanted there to be more of a balance?"

"Clarke, without sounding like a man-hating lesbian, there's nothing wrong with powerful women outnumbering the men. The world could do with more female-centric works."

"You have a point," Clarke agrees, the wheels in her head turning. "I tend to favor women in general, so why not apply that to my comic?" 

"Hmm, 'women'? As in plural?" She asks, pretending to be offended.

"One woman in particular," Clarke says, running her hand up Lexa's arm to bring her in for a sweet kiss.

"It's almost midnight," Lexa says, giving Clarke one last kiss before getting up. "I'll be back."

Earlier in the day, she had purchased a dozen Oreo cupcakes from the bakery down the road from her office. They were supposed to be for tomorrow's party, but since they were for Clarke anyway, she didn't think one going missing would hurt. She didn't have any birthday candles, but she had plenty of ordinary ones and figured a small non-scented one would make a decent substitute.

"Close your eyes," she tells Clarke, lighting the candle and steadying it on the cupcake. 

Carefully, she carries the cupcake over to where Clarke is sitting and covering her eyes diligently.

"Happy Birthday, Clarke," she whispers, kneeling on the floor in front of her.

"I'm beginning to think you don't want to double date with Anya because you're scared she'll realize how sweet you are," Clarke says as she takes in the scene in front of her. The smile Clarke directs at Lexa can only be described as breathtaking.

"Make a wish."

Clarke takes a second to think of something, before locking eyes with Lexa and blowing out the candle.

"Why don't you stay here tonight?" Lexa asks, removing the candle. "We can tell Aden you had too much to drink and didn't want to drive home."

"Are you sure?" Clarke looks down at her, studying her face.

"I'm sure. Let's eat this and then I'll find you something to wear."

"Are you going to sleep with me?"

"What?" she sputters out, worried Clarke has jumped to conclusions.

"I mean in the bed. You're not going to sleep here on the couch are you? Aden knows we're friends, he won't be too suspicious."

"Oh. Yes, we'll share my bed. No way am I passing up the chance to fall asleep next to you."

"Best birthday, ever." Clarke takes a bite of the cupcake and Lexa can't help the surge of happiness that swoops through her body at those words. The night was a definite success. "This cupcake is _so_ good."

"Can I taste?" Lexa asks.

Instead of offering Lexa a bite of the cupcake, Clarke leans in to kiss Lexa, thoroughly. She deepens the kiss instantly and Lexa can taste traces of chocolate and icing on Clarke's tongue. Sharing a bed with Clarke, whilst Aden was in the apartment, wasn't going to be easy at all.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Next, the second part of Clarke's birthday (including Raven x Anya!). Thanks for your comments on the last chapter, I appreciate it a lot! Again, thanks for reading :)


	11. Chapter 11

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> 1000+ kudos? That was my low-key goal before starting, so that's really awesome! Thank you to everyone who has given this kudos and/or taken the time to comment. I really appreciate it!

Lexa wakes up in the morning feeling unusually light. The usual tension that can be felt in her shoulders isn't there. She can't remember waking up at all during the night, which is almost unheard of. It's quite possibly the best sleep she's had in months. There's a weight on her waist, but it's not heavy or unwelcome. It's warm and comforting. She could have sworn it was _her_ who was holding _Clarke_ when they fell asleep. It seems that during the night they had changed positions.

"Are you awake?" She hears Clarke mumble into her hair.

"Yeah," Lexa answers, turning so she can face the other girl, "how long have you been awake?"

"Not long," Clarke says, smiling. "How is it possible you can look this good in the morning?"

Lexa blushes. "I'm sure my hair is a mess," she mumbles, remembering that Clarke had insisted she take out her braid before they went to sleep.

"I wish it looked messy for a particular reason," Clarke says coyly, running her hand along Lexa's arm.

"It's too early for your teasing," she groans. They had engaged in a heated make-out session last night before falling asleep, but both had agreed it was best to wait until they had the apartment to themselves to take things further. It would be nice to be alone for their first time.

"Are you sure?" Clarke leans forward to press light kisses against her neck and Lexa feels an instant warmth spread through her body. Clarke had embarrassingly quickly found out that her neck was particularly sensitive. 

"Clarke," she whispers, sounding entirely too breathless for her liking, "don't start something you can't finish." Clarke ignores her and continues her journey from Lexa's neck to her collarbone, using her lips and tongue to work her up into a squirming mess.

She's just about to flip Clarke over onto her back and show her what teasing _really_ looks like, when a bang from the kitchen startles the both of them.

"Looks like Aden is awake," Clarke observes. She places one last kiss to Lexa's chest before getting out of bed. Lexa takes a moment to take in how good Clarke looks in her clothing. She could get used to waking up to the sight of Clarke in her hoodie and a pair of tight shorts. 

"I can make us breakfast," Lexa offers, stretching and trying to cling to the last bit of warmth before exiting her bed.

"I think it's my turn to cook," Clarke smiles. "How do you feel about pancakes?"

"Are you going to bring me breakfast in bed?" 

"Not a chance! You have to go out there with me to explain to Aden why I stayed over. You're a much better liar than I am."

"Good point," she agrees, reluctantly pushing the covers off of her body. 

"Maybe I can bring you breakfast in bed another time," Clarke says, walking over to where Lexa is still sitting on the bed and leaning down to kiss her softly. "Let's go." Clarke grabs her hand to pull her up and leads them out of the bedroom.

Aden is sitting at the kitchen bench when they exit, casually drinking orange juice and tapping at something on his phone. He looks up when they enter the kitchen and his eyes light up as his eyes land on Clarke.

"Clarke had too much to drink and I didn't think it was safe for her to drive home, so she had a err _sleepover_ ," Lexa says, trying to sound convincing. Clarke sides eyes her at the word 'sleepover' and she cringes. That might have sounded a bit juvenile or potentially suspicious. "Anyway, it looks like the birthday girl is going to cook us pancakes."

Aden jumps out of his chair and runs to his room, not bothering to look at either of them or offer a possible explanation.

"Not exactly the reaction I was hoping for at the mention of pancakes," Clarke jokes, looking slightly confused at Aden's abrupt departure. 

"He's left his phone, so I'm sure he'll back. Would you like some coffee?" She doesn't wait for a 'yes', knowing the answer will be affirmative and moves towards the fridge. "We should probably get some caffeine in you before you start cooking. I doubt your body is used to being awake so early and could do with a boost."

Clarke takes a seat next to the one Aden had just vacated and Lexa busies herself with making them both coffee. The domesticity of it all doesn't escape her and it brings a smile to her face when she looks over her shoulder to see Clarke watching her. She's debating going over to Clarke to see if she can kiss the cuteness off her face, when Aden comes running back into the room. He's holding Clarke's birthday present, as well as two birthday cards.

Aden places the gift and cards on the dining table, before walking over to Clarke and tugging her away from her place at the kitchen bench. 

"Looks like it's time for presents," Lexa says, amused by Aden's obvious excitement.

"This is for me?" Clarke asks Aden, obviously still under the impression that Lexa had taken her advice not to buy her anything. Aden nods at her with a big smile, pulling out chairs so they can sit around the table.

Lexa finishes pouring their coffees and strides over to the table to join them, taking a seat opposite Clarke so she can possibly sneak a picture of the moment. 

"How about we start with yours, Aden?" she suggests, knowing that he's eager to see Clarke's reaction. Aden wastes no time in picking out his birthday card and handing it to Clarke with barely suppressed glee.

"Thanks, Aden," Clarke says, indulging him with a bright smile. She takes care in opening the card, almost like it's made of glass, before her eyes scan the words in front of her. "To Clarke," she reads out loud, "Happy Birthday. I don't know how old you are. Lexa said it's rude to ask. She wouldn't let me try your cupcakes either. Lexa sucks. Thanks for inviting me to your party. Love, Aden."

"Really, Aden?" Lexa huffs. "You spent more time whinging about me than actually wishing Clarke a happy birthday."

Aden shrugs and Clarke laughs, not bothered by that in the slightest. 

"It's the best birthday card I've ever gotten. Thanks, Aden," Clarke says, looking genuinely touched to have received something from him. Aden sasses her with a look that roughly translates to 'see, Clarke liked it'. He was moving into those teenage years at an alarmingly fast rate.

"A present as well?" Clarke asks as Aden slides the well-wrapped box over to her. She opens the gift just as carefully as she did the card, treating it with much more care than anyone should treat birthday paper. "Is this a fold-out chair?"

"Not just _any_ fold out chair. It has a spot for your drink and a detachable umbrella to keep the rain off. You know, for when you come to Aden's matches," Lexa spells out.

"You want me to come to your games?" Clarke asks, turning her gaze to Aden who nods at her emphatically. "Every week?" Clarke seems genuinely surprised. Aden nods again and Clarke pushes the box to the side, placing her arms around Aden in a tight embrace. "How could I say 'no', when I have my very own chair? I love it! Thank you." Aden beams at Clarke and he hands her the second birthday card.

"That one is from me..." Lexa says, suddenly nervous.

"You really didn't have to get me anything." Clarke takes the card out of the envelope and opens it, only for another smaller envelope to fall out. "An envelope within an envelope? Is this some sort of elaborate pass-the-parcel kind of thing?" Clarke's laughter comes to a halt when she opens the second envelope and registers what's inside. "Are these tickets to a music festival?" 

"Yeah...I thought it was a shame that your signing and dancing skills are mainly confined to my apartment," Lexa explains. Clarke had a beautiful singing voice. It had become one of her hobbies lately to walk in to her apartment as quietly as possible, so she could hear Clarke singing when she thought Lexa wasn't home.

"This is amazing! Octavia and Raven are going to be so jealous," Clarke smiles and Lexa is relieved her present has gone over well.

"There's two tickets there, so maybe only one of them will be jealous."

"No way," Clarke says, "you're coming with me."

"Are you sure?" She hadn't expected Clarke to share the second ticket with her.

"Of course! It's next month, so we could make it our first, you know, _hangout_." 

Lexa reads between the lines and realizes she actually means their first _date_.  


"Sounds good to me. Aden, why don't you go have a quick shower while Clarke makes breakfast?"

Aden nods in agreement and gives Clarke one final departing hug before disappearing to the bathroom. Once Aden is out of the room, Clarke gets out of her seat and walks around the table to sit in her lap, throwing her arms around Lexa's neck.

"I can't believe you made me dinner last night _and_ got me birthday presents. I am one lucky girl," Clarke whispers, leaning forward to capture Lexa's lips in a sweet kiss. 

"You deserve it," Lexa reassures, returning the kiss and running her hands along Clarke's back.

"Thank you," Clarke says earnestly, locking their eyes together and stroking Lexa's cheek softly.

"You're welcome. Do you want to show me how to make pancakes?"

"Sure, then next time I stay over you can make me breakfast," Clarke teases.

"Next time? Yeah, I like the sound of that." 

Lexa could get used to mornings like these quite easily indeed.

***

"I know, I'm late," Clarke apologizes, stepping into Octavia's apartment.

"Late to your own birthday party. Only you, Clarke," Octavia rolls her eyes before leaning in to hug her friend. "Happy birthday!"

"Group hug!" Raven shouts, joining them. "Happy birthday, Griff."

"Thanks guys," Clarke laughs, hugging both of them tightly. "Aden's match went a bit later than I anticipated and I had to go home to shower and change."

"Clarke, you're only wearing jeans and t-shirt. Surely you could have worn that to the game and just come here after?" Octavia asks, slightly confused.

"Oh," Clarke avoids their gaze, suddenly finding the birthday decorations highly intriguing. "I stayed at Lexa's last night. I needed to go home for a change of clothes."

"You slept with Lexa last night?" Raven asks, punching Clarke's arm. "Way to go!"

"We didn't sleep together! She made dinner for me and I had too much to drink, so I just stayed over."

"On the couch?" Octavia asks, eyebrow raised.

"In Lexa's bed," Clarke admits.

"And nothing happened?" Raven asks, doubtful.

"No. You know how loud I can be," Clarke explains, making sure her voice is quiet so the others in the living room can't hear. "I don't know if I'll be able to be quiet our first time. I want to be sure Aden won't be scarred for life."

"True, you _are_ loud," Raven agrees and Octavia nods. "Ear-plugs were a blessing in college."

"Like you were any quieter," Clarke jibes. 

"It wasn't me who was loud! It was whoever was on the receiving end of my sexual prowess," Raven winks.

"Anyway," Octavia interjects, "I invited your Mom, Clarke, but she told me she's working tonight."

"Yeah, I know. She called me earlier in the week and we arranged to have dinner next week." She's kind of glad her Mom is working tonight since Lexa will be here and that had the potential to be awkward.

"I guess that means you're not finally setting me up with your Mom?" Raven asks with a wistful look on her face.

" _Raven_ ," Clarke sighs, slightly annoyed but not at all surprised by her friend's comments about her Mom. 

"Go say 'hi' to the others, I'll get you a drink," Octavia offers. 

"Thanks," Clarke smiles at her friend gratefully and walks over to the living room which is adjacent to the kitchen. 

"Clarke!" Bellamy greets. "Happy birthday." He gets up from his seat to give her a big hug and Clarke waves at Monty and Jasper from over his shoulder.

"I should have known you guys would already be set up with drinks and playing video games," Clarke comments, rolling her eyes and letting go of Bellamy.

"Octavia said it was a low-key party," Jasper says, shrugging. "I brought you some birthday weed," he informs her with a wink.

"You brought weed?" Clarke exclaims, slightly alarmed. "Jasper! Don't you dare smoke anything while Aden is here."

"Who is Aden?" Monty asks, puzzled.

"Lexa's younger brother," she answers.

"Who is Lexa?" Bellamy asks, frowning.

"You didn't tell me you got a new girlfriend," Monty accuses.

"Lexa is my boss, remember? I told you guys in a group chat that I got a babysitting job," Clarke explains, dodging the mention of 'girlfriend'.

"Wait, you invited your boss and her kid?" Jasper laughs.

"She's not just my _boss_. Besides, she's best friend's with Lincoln's sister, Anya, and I invited her too. So, no weed and no swearing."

"Yeah, what Clarke said," Octavia agrees, handing Clarke a beer. "Anya has only just warmed up to me, so you lot better not make me look bad."

"No guarantees," Raven smirks, handing out drinks to the others. 

"We'll be on our best behavior," Monty assures them and Clarke sends him an appreciative smile.

"Where's Lincoln?" Clarke asks, looking at Octavia as she takes a taste of her beer.

"He's gone to pick up the pizza," Octavia answers.

Before she can ask how long it will be before he gets back (the pancakes from this morning seeming like a distant memory), there's a knock at the door.

"I'll get it," Raven shouts, placing her drink on the coffee table and smirking at Clarke.

"No, _I'll_ answer it," Clarke argues, trying to get past Raven. They both know Lincoln wouldn't knock, so it must be Lexa at the door.

"You're the guest of honor, Clarke. Just relax," Raven says, pretending to be helpful.

"You're an asshole," Clarke mutters as Raven beats her to answering the door. 

"Hi," Raven greets, opening the door to reveal Lexa, Aden and Anya standing on the other side. "Come in."

"Hey," Lexa says, a tinge of nervousness in her voice.

"Hey," Clarke replies, stepping aside to make room for them to enter the apartment.

"Nice to see you again, Lexa," Raven says, smiling. "Hey, handsome. You must be Aden?" Aden nods as he walks through the door, standing close to Lexa. "I'm Raven," she introduces. "I'm Clarke's best and coolest friend. I can sneak you some extra birthday cake later." 

Clarke smiles warmly at Raven's words, touched that her friend is making an effort to put Aden at ease. "Aden, the boys are playing video games if you want to join them?"

Aden looks up at Lexa for permission and she smiles down at him, pushing him towards the living room.

"I'm Anya," Anya introduces, offering her hand for Raven to shake.

"Anya," Raven enunciates slowly, "what a beautiful name."

Clarke's eyes shoot to Lexa's and they share a look. It doesn't look like Raven will need help being set up after all.

"Thank you," Anya replies, smiling at Raven and giving her a once-over. "Happy birthday, Clarke," Anya smiles, finally breaking contact with Raven and handing her a birthday card.

"Did Lexa make you get me something?" Clarke asks, laughing.

"No," Anya denies, offended. "I wanted to get my best friend's new... _friend_ a gift."

"Thank you," Clarke says appreciatively, opening the card to see what's inside. "Anya," she questions, "is this a Monopoly 'get out of jail' card?"

"Yes," Anya confirms, smirking. "You can redeem it when you and Lexa want an 'Aden-free' night, if you know what I mean."

"Amazing," Raven laughs. 

" _Anya_ ," Lexa whispers furiously. 

"It's okay, Lexa," Clarke laughs, placing a hand on her arm to calm her down. "It's very thoughtful of you, Anya. Thank you."

"Would you like a drink?" Raven asks, sending Anya a dazzling smile. 

"I'd love one," Anya answers appreciatively. 

"Lexa?" Raven asks.

"Just a soft drink to begin with, please. I'm driving," Lexa explains.

"No problem," Raven replies, turning towards the kitchen.

"I'll help you," Anya offers and follows Raven.

"Hey," Clarke says, greeting Lexa again now they're alone.

"Hey," Lexa responds with an affectionate smile.

"What's in the bag?" Clarke questions.

"Oh," Lexa exclaims, like she had forgotten she was even holding onto something, "these are your birthday cupcakes."

"I was kind of hoping you'd forget to bring those. Whoever came up with the saying 'sharing is caring' had obviously never tasted those cupcakes."

"You didn't seem to mind sharing one with me," Lexa points out, unsubconsciusly licking her lips.

"You're the exception. Let's put them in the fridge." She leads Lexa into the kitchen where Anya and Raven are leaning against the counter, seemingly engrossed in conversation. "You're supposed to be getting Lexa a drink."

"I _did_. It's just in the fridge keeping cool," Raven replies.

"You're so full of shit." Clarke finds space in the fridge for the cupcakes towards the back, out of sight incase any of the others get peckish before dinner. She pours Lexa and Aden a drink since Raven is clearly too busy flirting with Anya to stick to the task. "Let's go make sure Aden is okay and introduce you to everyone."

"Are you sure I shouldn't keep an eye on Anya and Raven?" Lexa suggests but Clarke sees right through her.

"I'm sure those two will be fine on their own. My friends won't bite," Clarke laughs, grabbing Lexa's free hand and leading her towards the living room. "Everyone, this is Lexa."

"Hi," Lexa waves, taking in the room.

"There's a seat next to me," Jasper offers, not at all subtly.

"Smooth, Jasper," Clarke sighs, rolling her eyes. "This is Monty," she introduces, pointing at the boy sitting next to Jasper on the couch, "and the rude guy, who can't tear his eyes away from the video game, is Bellamy." Bellamy is sitting on the other couch, Aden sat next to him, eyes equally glued to the screen. 

"Hey," Bellamy greets, glancing over at them briefly, "sorry, Jasper...it doesn't look like you have a chance." Bellamy pointedly looks towards Clarke's hand which is still gripping Lexa's tightly.  
Clarke squeezes her hand gently before reluctantly letting go.

"Losers," Raven interrupts, "this is Lincoln's sister, Anya. Anya, these are the losers."

"Anya, I'm Jasper. There's room next to me if you'd like to sit down," Jasper tries again.

Bellamy's video game character dies and he groans loudly before passing the controller to Aden so he can have a turn. "Judging by the way Raven is looking at you, Jasper, I think you're out of luck again."

"Pizza's here!" Lincoln shouts, entering the apartment and Octavia appears from one of the bedrooms to help him. 

"Aden, I'll put your drink here on the table and fetch you some pizza, okay?" Clarke asks, trying to gain his attention. Aden gives her a quick thumbs up and she smiles to herself, pleased he's enjoying himself.

"Okay, here's the plan," Raven announces, "food first, then we're playing a drinking game. It's not a real party without Clarke getting drunk."

***

"Everyone who's playing the game, take a seat at the dining table," Octavia orders. 

Lexa takes her seat at the table and smiles her thanks when Clarke places a beer in front of her. One or two drinks couldn't hurt and it might help her to loosen up around Clarke's friends. Octavia, Raven, Anya, Lincoln and Bellamy join them at the table to play the game.

"What are we playing?" Clarke asks, taking a sip of her beer and looking at Raven expectantly.

"I was thinking 'Never have I ever'," Raven suggests.

"Really?" Bellamy groans.

Raven's eyes flick over to Anya before she looks back at Bellamy. "It's a good way to get to know our new friends."

"I'm in," she says, surprising the other occupants of the table. She didn't usually partake in drinking games, but she was keen to impress Clarke's friends and get to know them better.

"Then it's settled," Clarke declares, as if Lexa wanting to participate is a good enough reason they all should.

"I'll start," Raven declares. "Never have I ever kissed anyone sitting at this table."

Well, shit. It looks like Raven isn't wasting any time. She lifts her beer to her lips and takes a sip. Clarke, Octavia and Lincoln drink as well.

"Never have I ever fixed a car," Anya says, smiling at her brother smugly. Lincoln takes a drink, as does Raven.

"Never have I ever cried while watching 'The Notebook'," she offers and flashes Anya a smug smile of her own.

"You're an asshole," Anya whispers, so there's no chance of Aden hearing and takes reluctant sip of her drink.

"Bellamy, you have to drink!" Octavia orders, punching his arm lightly.

"I didn't _cry_ , I had something in my eye," Bellamy argues.

"Drink up, Bell," Clarke laughs and Bellamy lets out a huff while lifting his drink to his lips.

"Never have I ever gotten a tattoo," Bellamy goes next, raising his eyebrow at Octavia in accusation.

Everyone except for Bellamy takes a drink and she eyes Clarke with interest, wondering where her tattoo is or if she has more than one. She hopes she'll have the answers to those questions soon enough.

Octavia takes a second to think about something she could ask that wouldn't incriminate herself. "Never have I ever gone to school or work drunk."

"I should hope the answer to that is 'never' for all of you," a new voice says, interrupting their game. Lexa isn't sure who the newcomer is, but she looks oddly familiar.

"Mom!" Clarke shouts, springing out of her chair. "I thought you were working?" Clarke embraces her Mom with a tight hug that is eagerly reciprocated.

"I am working tonight, but I thought I'd come and see you while I have a break. It didn't feel right not being able to see you on your birthday."

"Are you hungry? Do you have time for some pizza?" Clarke asks, gesturing for her Mom to sit down.

"I can't stay long, but I will take the opportunity to sit since I have a surgery later."

Bellamy vacates his seat and offers the older woman a smile. "The boys seem to be suffering without my help at Xbox, so you can take my seat, Abby."

"Thank you, Bellamy."

Lexa feels a presence next to her and as she looks to the side, she sees Aden standing next to her. "Hey, are you having a good time?" Aden nods and Lexa pulls him into a half hug since she's still sitting down. "Let me know when you start getting tired and we'll go."

"Clarke, you're still coming to dinner next week, aren't you?" Abby asks, taking a sip of the water Clarke has placed in front of her. 

"Yeah, we're still on for dinner."

"Good, because there are some new surgeons and doctors that have just started at the hospital and I was thinking I could set you up with someone."

"Oh," Clarke pauses, "that's not necessary."

"Why not? Are you seeing someone and didn't tell me?" Abby asks with a disapproving frown.

"Uh," Clarke stalls by taking a drink of her beer.

Lexa's heartbeat starts to quicken and Aden nudges her with his elbow. She fixes him with a look, 'what'? He looks at Clarke, then at Abby and back to her, seemingly trying to tell her something. Lexa isn't catching on.

"Raven, I can always count on you for honesty," Abby turns towards the girl in question, "is Clarke seeing someone?"

Raven looks like a deer in headlights. "I'm sorry, I didn't catch that."

"Mom," Clarke whines.

"Well, are you going to answer me or not?" Abby holds Clarke's gaze in what can only be described as a stand-off.

Aden nudges her again and she's about to ask him what his problem is, when he points to his phone, signaling for her to reach for hers too. As she takes her phone out from her pocket, she sees Aden has texted her.

**Aden - Awkward. Why aren't you telling Clarke's Mom you're dating?**

Lexa's eyes bulge slightly as she takes in the words of the text.

"You knew?" she asks in disbelief. Aden rolls his eyes in response and Lexa just stares at him, still shocked he had figured it out. 

"Well, the thing is..." Clarke trails off, clearly unsure how to answer her mother's question. 

Aden pushes her shoulder and gestures his head, motioning for her to intervene.

"It's me," she says, urging her voice to appear calmer than she feels, "I'm Clarke's girlfriend."

The silence that follows her declaration does nothing to calm her nerves. She tries to block everyone else out and focus on the way Clarke's lips pull into the most beautiful smile as Lexa's words register. 

"I don't think we've met," Abby says, taking her in with interest. 

"We haven't," she acknowledges. "I'm Lexa."

"Lexa? _The_ Lexa?" Abby asks, looking at Clarke for confirmation.

"Yes, my boss, Lexa," Clarke confirms.

"My daughter speaks quite highly of you," Abby compliments with a kind smile.

Lexa lets out a breath she wasn't aware she was holding. "Thank you."

"If you're Lexa, does that mean the young boy next to you is Aden?" Abby's eyes lock onto Aden who is watching the scene unfold with interest. "Clarke's told me a lot about you," Abby informs him with a big smile. 

"That's not surprising," Raven interjects, "Clarke is smitten with both of them."

"So it seems," Abby agrees. "Anyway, Clarke, I have to get back to work. Perhaps you could bring Lexa and Aden to dinner next week so we can get to know each other properly?"

"Maybe," Clarke answers vaguely.

"Happy birthday, Sweetheart," Abby says, giving Clarke a hug goodbye. "It was nice meeting you, Lexa. Aden."

Lexa smiles in return and Aden waves his goodbye. Clarke leads her Mom to the door as everyone else shouts their goodbye's.

"Already meeting the parents, Lexa? For someone who danced around their feelings for so long, you do move fast," Anya teases.

"Shut up."

Clarke walks back into the room and strides straight over to Aden. "Are you okay with me dating your sister?"

He nods eagerly and Lexa shakes her head. "He already knew."

"What?" Clarke asks, just as surprised as she was.

"The heart-eyes you shoot at each other are not subtle at all, so it's not surprising," Raven explains. "I _was_ surprised to see your Mom walk in though, Clarke. I thought maybe it was the mystery person you were supposed to be setting me up with."

Clarke sniggers and reclaims her seat at the table. "Anya's already here."

"What? You're trying to set Raven up with Anya?" Octavia asks, bewildered.

"Genius," Lincoln praises, saluting Clarke with his bottle of beer. 

"Really?" Octavia looks at her boyfriend in confusion and he shrugs his shoulders in lieu of an explanation.

"Clarke, you really are my favorite," Anya grins.

"You have great taste, Clarke," Raven praises, fixing Anya with her most charming smile.

Aden turns to Clarke and gives her a quick hug. Clarke holds him in place and whispers something in his ear that Lexa can't hear. He smiles at whatever is said and goes back to join the others playing in the living room.

"So, girlfriend?" Clarke asks, sliding her chair closer.

"I probably should have asked first..." she trails off, slightly apologetic.

"I'd love to be your girlfriend, Lexa."

"I like the sound of that," she replies, a smile spreading across her face. She places her arm over the back of Clarke's chair and leans in to place a soft kiss on her lips.

The cat-calls of their friends barely register. Clarke's lips have an amazing ability to block out the world around them, which Lexa begins to appreciate more and more.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for the lovely comments on the last chapter! Your comments put a smile on my face, just like this story puts one on yours. Thanks again for reading!


	12. Chapter 12

Clarke is enjoying a particularly nice dream involving Lexa and an empty apartment, when a loud shriek startles her awake.

"Raven, you promised!" 

She can hear Octavia shouting at Raven from her place on the couch. _The couch._ She was supposed to share the spare room with Raven after her birthday party, so she didn't have to monitor her drinking, why is she on the couch? There's only one way to find out, so she reluctantly vacates her sleeping spot to see what all the yelling is about.

"Octavia, it's okay." Lincoln has a comforting hand on Octavia's back as Clarke approaches them, but his face looks somewhat displeased.

"What's going on?" Clarke asks, trying to look around Lincoln's body to see what the fuss is about. She instantly wishes she hadn't been curious and had just rolled over and gone back to sleep. 

"What's going on," Octavia starts angrily, "is Raven had sex with Lincoln's sister in our spare bed, when she promised me last night that she wouldn't."

"That explains why I slept on the couch," Clarke says, putting the pieces together and trying to avoid looking at a very naked Raven and barely covered Anya.

"A true best friend, Griffin," Raven says with a mock salute.

"You're washing the sheets," Octavia interrupts, "and you're buying us breakfast."

"Totally worth it," Anya replies, before pulling Raven in for a passionate kiss that is mostly tongue and definitely just an excuse to piss Octavia off even more.

Raven breaks off their kiss, but Anya continues to kiss her neck. "Since we're already washing the sheets and buying you breakfast, do you think we could have a bit of privacy for round 2?"

Clarke looks at Lincoln to gauge his reaction and while he doesn't look thrilled at the idea, he just shakes his head and turns around to leave the room. She figures he must be used to his sister's antics by now. 

"Come on, let's go before we see something that can't be unseen," Clarke says, dragging Octavia away by her hand and closing the door.

"Raven promised she wouldn't sleep with Anya in our apartment," Octavia grumbles. 

"You seem even more annoyed than Lincoln is. If he's willing to let it go, you should too," she reasons. 

"I just hope Raven knows what she's doing. I don't want to be stuck in the middle if it doesn't work out or it to be awkward with Lincoln."

Clarke shrugs and reclaims her spot on the couch. "It's too late now."

"This is all your doing," Octavia accuses.

"If Raven is seeing someone, she can't keep pestering you about that match-making debt you owe her."

"Ugh, true. Whatever, I'm going to have a shower and make sure there's no chance of me being able to hear any sex noises," Octavia mutters, leaving Clarke to her own devices.

She picks her phone up from the floor, where she had apparently left it before falling asleep and types out a text to Lexa, informing her of the morning's events.

**Clarke - Anya and Raven had sex.**  
**Lexa - How do you know that?**  
**Clarke - I think Octavia came to check on Raven and I in the spare room, but she found those two instead.**  
**Lexa - Ew. But good for them, I guess. Anya's going to be smug and unbearable.**  
**Clarke - Isn't that how you would usually describe her anyway?**  
**Lexa - Good point. Side note, when did you change your name in my phone and what does it mean?**  
**Clarke - I changed it when you went to the bathroom last night. You don't know what 'Bae' means?**  
**Lexa - No, I do not.**  
**Clarke - It means I'm important.**  
**Lexa - I'm changing it back to 'Clarke'.**  
**Lexa - I'll keep the love-heart emojis though.**  
**Clarke - Deal. Raven is buying us all breakfast, why don't you and Aden meet us there?**  
**Lexa - Aren't you sick of me yet?**  
**Clarke - Never.**

***

Lexa finds herself once again caught in a daydream. The weekend had been memorable to say the least. Friday night, Clarke had slept over and left her bed sheets smelling just like her, making sleep much more enjoyable in the days after. Saturday, they had woken up together and Clarke had become her girlfriend, officially. Sunday morning's impromptu breakfast with everyone had been surprisingly relaxing and a lot of fun.  
Today marked the beginning of the work week and Lexa was finding it particularly difficult to focus on the paperwork in front of her. Thinking about the feel of Clarke's lips, whilst not the most productive, was certainly something Lexa thought was a good way to spend her time. Her boss, however, would definitely not share the same view.

"Ah, Lexa. Your assistant said you were busy, but from where I'm standing it doesn't look to be the case," Nia observes with a pointed look.

"Nia," she greets overly sweet, "how lovely to see you." 

Nia takes a seat opposite Lexa and fixes her with a smile that is more suspicious than genuine. "I take it you've heard that we landed the Wallace case."

Of course she had heard, it's all the office has been talking about. Not that Lexa herself had engaged in the gossip, her assistant Niylah had briefed her whilst going over the week's schedule this morning. The accusations against Dante Wallace and his son, Cage Wallace, and their company, had been widely documented. Lexa was surprised they would be representing them as the odds of winning the case were slim. She didn't know all the details, just that there was evidence of corruption, specifically at one of their science labs.

"I did. Congratulations," Lexa offers, still unsure as to why Nia had come all the way to her office to inform her of something she assumed Lexa already knew.

"I want you to take the lead on the case," Nia says, jumping straight to the point.

"Me?" Lexa asks, frowning.

"Don't look so surprised, Lexa. If your recent promotion is any indication, you're one of the most promising lawyers we have at our disposal," Nia explains. Those words would seem like praise if they were coming out of anyone else's mouth, but Lexa knows Nia hates her and she must have an ulterior motive. 

"Whilst I appreciate you coming to me with this," Lexa states diplomatically, "I specialize in corporate law, not criminal law. Since it's such a high profile case, surely it should be handled by someone with the right expertise?"

"Lexa, this is an excellent opportunity for you. If you win this case, you'll be earning a lot of money for the firm, as well as making an even bigger name for yourself."

It's the 'if' part that Lexa is worried about. "And if I refuse?"

"You don't have a choice," Nia replies, standing from her chair. "If you win the case, the sky is your limit. However, if you lose... Well, you can use your own imagination. I've set up a dinner for tonight with the Wallace's for you to meet them and discuss strategy. Expect _a lot_ of late nights." Nia doesn't wait for Lexa's response, just sends her a barely concealed smirk and turns on her heel to exit the office.

Lexa sighs heavily and slumps in her chair, trying to make sense of the situation. Nia clearly wants her to fail. If she loses the case, it would give Nia the leverage she needs to possibly get her fired. If this were any other case, the result wouldn't be so detrimental to her career, but this is as high profile as it gets. The Wallace's own many businesses nationally and globally. Everyone will be watching to see how it unfolds.

"Niylah," she shouts and her assistant dutifully pokes her head through her office door, "can you rearrange my schedule? It looks like I have a new case that will be taking priority."

She has no choice but to take on the case and giving anything other than one hundred percent isn't an option. Her weekend already seems like a distant memory and she reluctantly types out a message to Clarke, telling her she won't be home until late. 

***

"Finally," Clarke says, making room for Lexa to sit next to her on the couch, "I was about to send out a search party."

"I'm sorry," Lexa replies, kicking off her shoes and laying down with a long sigh. "Dinner with Dante and Cage went longer than I expected or wanted." 

"Don't apologize," she replies, taking Lexa's feet and placing them on her lap, "I was just worried about you."

"Oh yeah," Lexa says, smiling widely, "I forgot, I have a girlfriend who worries about my whereabouts now."

"That's right," Clarke grins. "How was your day?"

"Terrible," Lexa sighs, closing her eyes. "My boss gave me a shitty case that she hopes I can't win and Cage Wallace is an asshole."

"Why would your boss not want you to win a case?" she asks, confused. 

"Because she hates me. Anyway, I don't want to talk about work. How was your day?"

"My boss wasn't around to give me a hard time, so I guess it was a lot better than yours," Clarke replies with a cheeky smile.

"Cute," Lexa replies. "Is Aden asleep?"

"Yeah. I went to check on him an hour ago and he had fallen asleep reading one of his textbooks." 

"Nerd," Lexa whispers, voice turning sleepy now she's home and laying down.

Clarke doesn't respond. She decides to let Lexa have a moment of quiet and continues drawing. Her comic was coming along well and it might even be finished soon if she continued at this pace. The thought of her comic being finished both excites and terrifies her. Completing her comic might be considered the easy part. The hard part is getting it published.

It isn't long before Clarke notices Lexa's breathing has evened out and she must have fallen asleep. Clarke turns the page of her sketchbook over and starts drawing Lexa, the peaceful look on her face too beautiful not to commit to memory. She starts by trying to capture Lexa's strong jawline before moving on to sketching her intricately braided hair. 

It's getting late by the time Clarke puts her sketchbook on the coffee table, deciding to wake Lexa and direct her to bed. She doesn't want to interrupt her sleep, but she needs to drive home and Lexa would be a lot more comfortable changing out of her work clothes.

"Lex," she whispers, shaking her leg softly, "wake up."

"Clarke," Lexa mumbles, "what time is it?"

"It's just after midnight," she answers.

"I fell asleep," Lexa says, stating the obvious.

"You did."

"I'm sorry."

"Don't be sorry," Clarke smiles, "you must have been tired. Come on," she lifts Lexa's legs off her lap so she can stand, "you need to get to bed and I need to go home."

"I don't want you to go home," Lexa pouts, joining Clarke in a standing position and wrapping her arms around her waist.

"I'll see you tomorrow. Well, technically later today since it's past midnight," Clarke tries to appease. 

"Okay," Lexa grumbles adorably. "Thank you for staying so late." 

Clarke leans forward and cups Lexa's cheeks so she can place a lingering kiss on her lips. "You're welcome." She pecks her lips once more before stepping out of their embrace to gather her things.

Lexa goes to help Clarke by handing her the sketchbook, but stops abruptly when she sees what's on the page. "You drew me?"

"I hope you don't mind..." Clarke trails off, hoping that Lexa doesn't find it weird.

"It's amazing, Clarke," Lexa praises. "I don't look as badass as the warriors in your comic, though."

"I don't think anyone can look 'badass' when they're sleeping," Clarke laughs.

"True."

"Next time, I'll draw you more warrior-like," she offers with a smile.

"Deal," Lexa agrees, passing her the sketchbook.

***

Before she knows it, it's Thursday and for the fourth night in a row, Lexa is arriving home late.

"Hey," she greets, entering her apartment and walking over to join Clarke in the kitchen.

"Hey yourself," Clarke replies, greeting her with a kiss on the cheek. "Take a seat and I'll heat you some leftovers."

Lexa doesn't hesitate to take a seat on one of the bar-stools, the exhaustion she feels is overwhelming.

"Thanks, Clarke," she replies gratefully.

"Another long day?" Clarke questions.

"So long," she groans. "Preparing for hearings is the worst."

"You know what else is the worst? Spending the day with your brother when he's in a bad mood," Clarke says, taking a bowl out of the microwave and placing it in front of Lexa.

Lexa sighs, picking up her fork. "Yeah, that's probably my doing."

"Why, what did you do?"

"Aden overslept and it made me late for work. I may have overreacted..." she trails off guiltily. "I was hoping to be home in time to apologize to him, but obviously he's already asleep."

"That explains his mood, then."

"I know. Plus, I think he's disappointed that I haven't made it home before dinner this week," Lexa admits, feeling another stab of guilt. "I won't be able to make it to dinner with your Mom tomorrow night, either. I'm sorry, Clarke. If I don't get the work done tomorrow, I might have to work on the weekend."

"It's okay," Clarke replies, looking slightly disappointed but still managing to keep a smile on her face. "I'll text her and we can reschedule."

"I know you were looking forward to it. Why don't you still go and take Aden? I won't be home until after dinner anyway."

"You know, if I didn't know any better, I might think you took this case on purpose just to avoid having dinner with my Mom," Clarke jokes.

"Are you kidding? I can't wait to see your Mom and beg her to show me pictures of you as a baby," Lexa smirks.

"No way, that's not happening. My baby pictures are terrible."

"I'll be the judge of that."

"You won't be the judge of anything because you aren't seeing them."

Lexa abandons her dinner in favor of walking over to where Clarke is leaning against the bench-top. "I bet you were an exceptionally cute baby," she says, grabbing Clarke by the waist to bring their bodies closer together, "just like you're exceptionally cute right now."

Clarke wraps her arms loosely around Lexa's neck. "If you think calling me cute will make me change my mind about seeing those pictures, you're right. Keep going."

"You're cute," Lexa whispers against Clarke's cheek, before placing quick and light kisses all over her face. "So very cute."

"You're not so bad yourself," Clarke replies, intercepting Lexa's next attempt at kissing her face with her lips instead.

***

"Ready?" Clarke asks. Aden nods once in response and Clarke knocks on the door.

"Clarke," Abby smiles, opening the door. "Aden, it's nice to see you again. Come in."

"Hey Mom," Clarke greets, giving Abby a quick hug as she steps over the threshold. 

"Dinner won't be ready for a few minutes. Why don't you give Aden a tour of the house?" 

"Sure. Do you want to see my old bedroom?" she asks, directing her question to Aden who's eyes are taking in the spacious house.

He nods eagerly and Clarke smiles, leading him over to the staircase. This house is too big for just her Mom to live in, but Abby couldn't bring herself to sell the house that held so many memories of Jake. Clarke has a lot of memories associated with the house too, but not all of them are good.

"This is it," Clarke says, opening the door to her childhood room and ushering Aden inside.

The walls are covered in artwork and pictures of her friends and family. Clarke enjoys looking at her drawings from when she was younger because it highlights how much better she has gotten over time. Aden is drawn to the photographs and Clarke joins him to add commentary to some of them.

"That's Raven, Octavia and I, on Halloween. We went as Charlie's Angels," she laughs, rolling her eyes at their ridiculous pose. "Those are some of the kids from the hospital," Clarke points out, "and this is from my high school graduation. Wow, my hair is really long there."

Aden runs his fingers carefully over one particular photograph and Clarke smiles proudly. "That's my Dad. We took that picture together when we were on vacation in Florida. And this one," she points to another picture underneath, "is from when he let me put make-up on him. He was the best," she adds, smiling sadly at the memory.

"Clarke!" She hears Abby calling them from downstairs.

"Dinner must be ready," Clarke says, stepping back from the wall of pictures and heading towards the door. 

She expects Aden to follow but his attention is caught by her old guitar in the corner of the room. He picks it up carefully and strums the strings curiously.

"I can teach you how to play, if you want," she offers, seeing that he looks genuinely interested. "Bring it downstairs and we can take it with us."

Aden beams with delight and clutches the guitar close to his chest. Clarke leads them downstairs and into the kitchen where her Mom is plating up dinner.

"Something smells good," Clarke says, inhaling the scent of her Mom's cooking.

"I'm not an amazing cook as you know," Abby says, "but since Aden is a guest and deserves a decent dinner, I put in a bit of extra effort."

"Oh," Clarke says, exaggerating offense, "so you'll put effort in for Aden, but not me?" 

Aden giggles and Abby gives him a wink. "What can I say? Growing boys need food."

"I see how it is," Clarke responds with a huff.

"It's a shame your sister couldn't make it, Aden. I got Clarke's baby pictures out in preparation and everything. I'm sure you'd like to see them though, right?" Abby asks and Aden's eyes light up in response.

"Unbelievable," Clarke mutters. 

They'd been here for less than half an hour and Abby had already managed to win over Aden with the promise of food and embarrassing pictures of Clarke. The worst part is she isn't even surprised.

***

"Hey, we're home," Clarke says, following Aden into the apartment.

"Hey," Lexa responds, smiling at Clarke's use of the word 'home'. It had been a long week and she was finally relaxing with a glass of wine on the couch. It was made all the sweeter by having her two favorite people home. "How was dinner with your Mom?"

"Great," Clarke says, rolling her eyes and sitting down next to her, "apart from the baby pictures and unnecessary stories about my childhood."

"Don't tell me I missed out on your baby pictures?" Lexa asks, looking to Aden for confirmation. Aden grins in response, taking a seat on her other side, so she's now sandwiched between the both of them. 

"Oh, don't worry. My Mom assured me she'd keep them safe until you're free for dinner next."

"Yes," she fist-pumps and Clarke shakes her head affectionately, catching her hand and intertwining their fingers.

"What are you watching?" Clarke asks, eyes glancing at the TV.

"You'll be completely shocked to discover that I am watching a documentary," she replies.

Aden lifts her arm that's resting on her lap and moves it over his shoulders, burrowing into her side to watch the documentary. Lexa had apologized to Aden this morning on the way to school for being short tempered with him yesterday and it looks like all has been forgiven. Lexa feels a small weight lifted off her shoulders, having been worried about the state of her relationship with her bother the past couple of days.

"Did you get all of your work done?" Clarke asks, using her thumb to stroke Lexa's knuckles softly.

"I did, which means I don't have to work tomorrow," she informs them happily.

"Good," Clarke whispers, "because I brought an overnight bag, so I can stay over."

"That's sensible," Lexa whispers in return, "it's Friday after all and you'd only be back again for Aden's soccer match in the morning. You're more than welcome to sleep on the couch."

"Ass," Clarke replies, squeezing her hand but not too hard, "if I'm sleeping here, you won't get to see my pajamas."

"You know, come to think of it, I do have some space in my bed," she replies, her eyes lighting up.

"That's what I thought," Clarke smirks, quieting down to watch the show.

Lexa tries her hardest to concentrate on the documentary, but it isn't long until the wine and the exhaustion hit, forcing her eyes closed. Aden and Clarke aren't far behind. They fall asleep like that, content at finally being together again.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Reading all of your comments never fails to put a smile on my face, so thank you! Thank you to those who are reading, I hope you enjoy the update :)


	13. Chapter 13

Lexa wakes up Saturday morning feeling content and more than a little reluctant to open her eyes. Clarke is once again in her bed after spending the night and she hates that her body clock has woken her up so early, used to her usual week-day schedule.

Last time they woke up together, Clarke was the one holding her, but this time Lexa has _her_ arms around Clarke's waist, keeping her close. She can't stop herself from placing a sleepy kiss on Clarke's shoulder, the urge to shower her in affection somewhat overwhelming. Her week at work had been hellish, but Clarke had provided her with pockets of happiness throughout. 

"Go back to sleep," Clarke mutters, letting out a sigh. 

Lexa doesn't answer, just places another soft kiss to her shoulder and brushes her golden hair away from her neck so she can place a kiss there as well. "Why would I want to go back to sleep when reality is so much better?"

"You are way too smooth in the mornings," Clarke smiles, turning in Lexa's arms to face her.

"One of us has to be," she quips, placing a soothing hand on Clarke's back.

"I think Saturday's have replaced Friday nights as my favorite part of the week," Clarke says, bringing a hand up to brush Lexa's hair away from her face.

"Definitely," Lexa agrees, "it means I don't have to spend the day working on the Wallace case." 

Clarke grimaces in sympathy. "Can't someone else handle the case? You did say it's not really your area of expertise."

"I wish," Lexa sighs, placing a hand under her head so she can look down at Clarke as they talk. "Nia is in charge while Kane is away and there's no way she's going to allow someone else to take it on. She wants to watch me squirm."

"She sounds like a real piece of work," Clarke assesses.

"You have no idea. Anyway, enough about work. Let's talk about something else," she suggests.

"What would you like to talk about?" Clarke asks, linking their hands together and Lexa once again marvels at the way physical closeness seems to come so naturally to them.

"Hmm, how about we discuss you staying over here again tonight? We can take Aden to his match and maybe see a movie or something later? It could be like a date, minus the twelve year old lingering in the background."

"Another sleepover?" Clarke questions, a smile tugging at her lips. 

"I like having you here. Plus, the music festival is only a couple of weeks away and I want to fit in a few dates before then, even if my brother is part of them."

"You do?" Clarke asks, looking surprised.

"Yeah. I know we spend a lot of time together and we've shared so many meals that technically we've probably had a _lot_ of dates, but I want to give you more than that," she replies, trying to explain. 

"More than what?" 

Lexa averts her eyes. "More than nights in this apartment. You're young, we both are. If you were dating someone else, they'd be taking you out properly."

"Lexa," Clarke whispers, lifting Lexa's chin slightly so she can see her eyes, "are you worried I'm unhappy dating you?" Lexa nods once in confirmation and Clarke sighs exasperatedly. "I don't need fancy dates. I know we rarely get alone time, but we make the most of the time we _do_ get. I love Aden, you know I do. As far as I'm concerned, he's one of the reasons I feel the way I do about you. The way you've adapted your whole life to make him your priority. The way you work ten times as hard at work, just so you can be home sooner. The way you hide your own pain, so that Aden won't see it, even though your eyes always give you away." Clarke cups her cheek, so she can't look away. "The reasons you worry I'd rather date someone else are the same ones I'm glad it's you I'm dating."

"How did I get so lucky?" Lexa asks, placing her hand over Clarke's that is still cupping her cheek.

"You haven't gotten lucky yet," Clarke replies, smirking, "but that will change soon enough." 

Lexa smirks at the insinuation before leaning forward and a quick kiss to Clarke's lips. "So, was that a yes to staying over tonight?"

"I can't," Clarke sighs, "I told Octavia and Raven that I'd see them after Aden's match. You know we always make the effort to hang out on Saturday's, it's tradition."

Lexa frowns, displeased at the thought of Clarke leaving after Aden's game. "You could always come back here after you see them? Or, you could ask them if they want to come to the match."

"Really?" Clarke asks. "You wouldn't mind?"

"Of course not, Clarke. I like your friends. Aden would probably enjoy the extra support, too."

"You know, I think Octavia might like that. Remember, I told you she used to play soccer in college? She probably hasn't watched a game in a while."

"What about Raven?" she asks.

"Raven isn't a massive sports fan, but I think we can give her another incentive," Clarke replies with a smirk.

***

"Anya, will you stop pacing? She'll be here soon." Clarke watches on as Anya looks at her phone and lets out a huff. "I thought _we_ were the one's who were supposed to be love-sick," she whispers to Lexa.

"Has Raven said anything to you? I can't get anything out of Anya about what's happening between them," Lexa says, frowning.

"She didn't say much, just that they'd exchanged numbers," she answers. 

"Well, that's more than I got out of Anya. She's not usually this secretive about who she's dating. In fact, usually she's more of an over-sharer," Lexa says, grimacing at the memories.

"Well, it looks like Raven and Octavia are here," she assess, seeing her friends make their way over. "Maybe I can grill Raven while she's here and see what's going on between them."

"Good idea," Lexa replies, rewarding Clarke with a smile.

"Finally," they hear Anya mutter. 

Instead of going over to Raven, as Clarke would expect her to do after all the pacing, Anya turns her attention back to where Aden is warming up and puts her sunglasses on.

"Hey," Octavia greets, "thanks for letting us crash Aden's game, Lexa."

"Yeah, thanks," Raven adds, smirking, "even though I know it's just so you can spend more time with Clarke."

"Guilty," Lexa replies, smiling. "But Clarke told me you would overlook that, given the right motivation." Raven's eyes drift over to where Anya is still pretending not to notice her arrival.

"Not that kind of motivation," Clarke interjects, laughing and producing a bag of snacks.

"Food is always the way to my heart. You know me too well," Raven says, eyes lighting up as she takes the bag of goodies and plonks herself down in Clarke's fold out chair.

"Raven, that's my chair."

"You snooze, you lose, Griff," Raven laughs.

"Octavia, you can have my chair if you'd like," Lexa offers and Clarke internally swoons.

"Really?" Octavia asks and Lexa nods, urging her to take the unoccupied seat.

"Hey, Anya, why so quiet?" Raven shouts, trying to get Anya's attention.

"Oh," Anya exclaims, like she's only just noticed her arrival. "Nice to see you again, Raven. Octavia."

"Is Anya trying to play hard to get?" Clarke whispers, looking between Lexa's face and the scene in front of her.

"I think so?" Lexa replies, eyes scrunched in confusion.

"Why does she need to play hard to get when they've already slept together?"

"Don't ask me... I have no idea what goes on in her head."

"If you need somewhere to sit," Raven shouts, regaining Anya's attention, "you can always sit on my lap."

"Is that so?" Anya asks, removing her sunglasses to appraise Raven properly.

"Definitely," Raven replies, coy smile taking over her face. "If my memory serves me right, it wouldn't be the first time you've straddled me."

"Raven!" Octavia shouts, covering her ears in an effort not to hear any more.

"Rae, keep it in your pants," Clarke says, shaking her head. The last thing she wants is for them to put on a display in front of the children. She picks up the blanket next to her chair (Raven's chair now, she guesses) and shakes it out, letting it fall into the space in front of where Octavia and Raven are sitting. "Anya, you can sit on the blanket, with us."

Raven mumbles something that sounds suspiciously like 'cock-blocker' but her eyes light up when Anya chooses to sit directly in front of her with a smirk.

"I'm bringing Lincoln next time," Octavia announces as she watches Clarke and Lexa sit as close as possible, despite the spacious blanket.

"Who says you're invited next time?" Clarke asks, rolling her eyes and receives a nudge from Lexa, urging her to be nice.

The boys finish their warm up and Coach Collins gives them one last pep talk before they take their places on the field. Aden is starting the match in midfield, his preferred position. The referee blows the whistle to signal the start of the game and the actions begins.

Clarke lets the feeling of being surrounded by her friends and girlfriend settle over her. The sun is shining, her friends are shouting encouragement at Aden and groaning good-naturedly when the other team gets the ball. Lexa is nestled into her side, muttering when the referee makes a call that she doesn't agree with. It's the perfect Saturday.

At half-time, the scores are 1-1 and it's set up to be an entertaining second half. Raven wanders off with Anya to the coffee truck that's set up in the parking lot and Lexa goes to check on Aden with a bottle of Gatorade in hand.

"So, Saturday's with the girlfriend, watching kids soccer games. I have to say, domesticity suits you, Clarke," Octavia says, genuinely happy for her friend.

"Thanks," Clarke replies, her smile wide. "What's up with Anya and Raven? Did Raven say anything to you on the drive over here?"

"I don't know. Raven said they had exchanged texts throughout the week but I think they're both waiting for the other to ask them out."

"Is that why Anya is acting so casual?"

"Well," Octavia laughs, "Anya called Lincoln the day after your birthday party in a panic. Apparently she didn't want to mess things up with Raven, because she really likes her and Lincoln told her to just be herself and be 'casual'..."

"So she's taken the word 'casual' to the extreme," she says, shaking her head with a smile. "I'm sure they'll work it out."

Soon enough, Raven and Anya arrive back with their coffee, shooting coy looks at each other that suggest they enjoyed their time away from the group. When Lexa arrives back from checking on Aden, she places herself behind Clarke instead of reclaiming the spot next to her, so that Clarke can lean back against her chest. 

The second half of the match is full of action, as predicted. Aden's team has most of the chances but they can't seem to find the back of the net. Late in the half, his team are awarded a penalty and Aden steps up to take it, looking like he has nerves of steel. The crowd quietens down to watch the penalty kick and Clarke squeezes Lexa's hand, more nervous than Aden himself appears to be.

Aden starts his run up and adjusts his body to strike the ball. The goalkeeper makes his decision early, diving to the right, hoping Aden would choose that side, however Aden places the ball right down the middle, cool as can be. The ball hits the back of the net and they all jump up to cheer, elated that Aden's goal would likely be the winner. 

"Go Aden!" Lexa cheers, her face equal parts relieved and ecstatic. 

Aden finishes celebrating with his team and quickly runs over to the sideline where they're standing and gives them all a high five. 

There are only a few minutes left of the match, so they stay standing. When the whistle finally blows, they let out a big cheer, louder than any of the other spectators and Aden laughs when he catches sight of them all jumping along the touchline. 

"Right, now it's time for my favorite part of match days," Raven announces, "victory drinks!"

"This isn't college, Raven," Octavia replies, shaking her head with an affectionate smile.

"Victory ice-cream?" Lexa suggests. 

"Okay, but you're paying," Anya agrees. Raven grins and Anya gives her a wink in response.

 

***

"Lexa, Nia is on her way down to see you," Niylah informs her, chest heaving like she's run a marathon.

"Why are you so out of breath?"

"Because Nia's secretary tipped me off and I was making a coffee in the break room," Niylah explains, looking over her shoulder to make sure Nia isn't there yet.

Lexa looks around her desk and frantically tries to organize some of the papers that are scattered around into something that doesn't resemble chaos. "Do you know what she wants?"

"No idea. Anyway, I better get to my desk before she suggests you fire me for being incompetent," Niylah replies, rolling her eyes.

"Okay, thank you for the heads up," Lexa says gratefully as Niylah hastily retreats. She makes a mental note to do something nice for her assistant in the future to show her appreciation.

It's only Tuesday, but Lexa is already longing for the weekend. She'll likely still have work to do on the weekend, but at least she can do it in the comfort of her own home without Nia breathing down her neck. 

"Lexa," Nia greets, breezing through her door without even knocking and taking a seat at her desk, "what's the latest on the Wallace case?"

"It's...progressing," she says evenly. "I'm still reading through the box of lab reports Dante sent over. There's quite a lot to go through, actually, so I'll get back to it." Lexa holds Nia's stare, hoping she'll take the hint and leave. "Unless there's something you need?"

"Actually, it's more about what _you_ need," Nia says, her lips pulling into what can only be described as a self-satisfied smirk. "Since you have so much on your plate, Ontari has kindly offered to give you a helping hand."

Lexa holds back a snort at this information. It's more likely that Nia _told_ Ontari to 'help' Lexa, rather than the girl offering any kind of assistance. If Nia is behind Ontari's help, you can be sure that it's better to have none at all. "That's a very generous offer, but I prefer to work on my own."

"It's not up for discussion, Lexa." Nia stands and heads towards the door. "Ontari will start working with you first thing tomorrow. Make sure to organize this mess before then." Nia eyes her disdainfully one more time before leaving Lexa to scramble through the papers on her desk.

In her haste to get on top of things, so that Ontari can't report anything negative back to Nia, Lexa forgets to text Clarke and let her know she'll be home late.

***

"Hey, how was practice?" Clarke notes that Aden looks exhausted but still happy overall and he gives her a thumbs up in response before opening his drink bottle for some much needed hydration. 

Before she can tell Aden to grab his kit bag so they can get to the car and go home, Coach Collins walks over to them.

"Clarke," Finn greets, "it's good to see you."

She fights the urge to say something along the lines of 'wish I could say the same' and decides to gives him a polite smile instead of answering him directly.

"I just wanted to come over and give you this," Finn says, handing her a folded sheet of paper and Clarke reaches out cautiously to take it. "I've organized a team building weekend for the boys during the school break coming up."

Aden's eyes light up and he tugs at the paper in Clarke's hand to get a look before she can even unfold it herself. The excitement on his face warms her heart and she's sure he'll want to go.

"That sounds fun. I'll have to ask Lexa, but I'm sure Aden will be there," Clarke answers.

"Of course, better check with the girlfriend first," Finn says with a wink. Clarke just raises one eyebrow in return. "I saw you two at the game last Saturday. It all makes sense now why you weren't interested in me."

Clarke lets out a genuine laugh at this and even Aden cracks a smile. "Sure, Lexa's the _only_ reason I wasn't interested. Anyway, we should be going. Thanks for the information sheet."

She urges Aden away from Finn before he has a chance to reply and keep the conversation going. She picks up Aden's bag for him since he's still scanning the sheet of paper like it's the most interesting thing he's ever read.

"Have you spoken to Lexa today?" she asks and Aden shakes his head in the negative. "She hasn't responded to any of my texts. I guess she must be busy at work." Clarke's eyebrows furrow and she takes her phone out to send Lexa another message to check everything is okay. It's not like her to not reply to her messages.

***

Later that night, after an afternoon of non-stop work, Lexa's stomach lets out an almighty grumble. She holds back a sigh and wonders what's for dinner. Clarke has taken to preparing dinner for them regardless of what time Lexa will be finishing work and she's particularly grateful lately as her work days are longer and she barely has the energy to eat once she's home, let alone cook.

She's jolted out of her thoughts when she remembers that she hadn't actually told Clarke that she would be a bit later than she had told her yesterday. Lexa hadn't even had time to check her phone for most of the day. Once she gets 'in the zone' she doesn't like to stop until the task at hand is finished. 

Lexa hastily grabs her phone out of her bag and feels her stomach drop at the amount of missed messages and calls from Clarke.

**Clarke - Hey, hope you're having a good day at work x**  
**Clarke - Any dinner requests?**  
**Clarke - Raven just texted me saying her and Anya are going on an actual date! Finally.**  
**Clarke - Hey, is everything okay? I haven't heard from you all day. Aden's soccer team are doing a team building thing during the holidays and he's bouncing around the apartment. I think it will be good for him.**  


**Missed Call from Clarke**  
**Missed Call from Clarke**

Waves of guilt immediately wash over her and Lexa types out a quick reply while trying to gather her things so she can leave the office.

**Lexa - I'm so sorry. I'm on my way home now.**

Lexa hurries out of the building and towards her car, throwing her things onto the passenger seat without much care. Her thoughts swirl as she makes the journey home. Clarke was always so good to her and the only thing she had to do was be on time or at least let Clarke know she'd be late and she couldn't even do that. She entertains the idea of stopping for flowers or wine as an apology, but reconsiders upon realizing it would make her even later than she already is and Clarke would probably rather just have her home. 

After weaving through traffic and driving a little faster than she probably should have been, Lexa finally arrives home. She opens the door to the apartment and rushes inside, dropping her things on the floor.

"Clarke?" she calls out.

"Hey," Clarke shouts from her spot on the couch, "about time."

"I know, I know," Lexa groans, making her way over to where Clarke is sitting with Aden. "I've had a really busy day and Nia is being a pain... But that's no excuse."

Clarke eyes jump from her exhausted face to the boy sitting next to her. "We were worried about you."

At Clarke's words, Lexa takes a closer look at Aden who looks like he has spent the afternoon worrying and she feels terrible. 

"I'm sorry, Aden," Lexa says, kneeling in front of him so she can take his hands in hers and get him to look at her. "It won't happen again, okay?"

Aden lets out a big sigh and nods his head, letting the tension from his shoulders finally fade.

"I'll go heat up your dinner," Clarke says, getting up from the couch and placing a light kiss to Lexa's hair as she goes. "Aden, why don't you show Lexa your soccer trip paper."

Aden instantly brightens and Lexa has to duck out the way of his swift exit from the couch. Lexa decides to follow Clarke to the kitchen, even though the couch looks comfy and oh so inviting. She needs to make sure they're okay.

"Hey," Lexa says, taking one of Clarke's hands and linking their fingers together, "I'm sorry I didn't see your messages earlier. You know I would never do it on purpose."

"I know," Clarke sighs, stepping into Lexa's personal space and wrapping her arms around her. "You're already forgiven. Just try to remember to let us know you'll be late next time."

"I will," she promises, leaning back slightly so she can look into Clarke's eyes, "thank you for making dinner and being the most understanding girlfriend in history."

Aden enters the kitchen and Lexa unwraps herself from Clarke but still keeps one arm around her back to keep her close. Aden hands her a piece of paper and her eyes scan quickly over the details as he rocks back and forth, waiting for her opinion.

"The trip is over three days?" Lexa questions and Aden nods, smiling from ear to ear. "I'm not sure it's a good idea." Clarke turns to look at her and Lexa drops her hand from her back. "I don't like the idea of you going away with a bunch of boys and that useless excuse for a coach. What if something happens?" Aden's face quickly morphs into one of anger and annoyance. 

"I doubt anything will happen, Lexa," Clarke says, trying to placate her. 

"The camp is hours away, Clarke. What if something happens and I can't be there? I don't trust Finn Collins to look after Aden for one day, let alone three."

"Lexa, you can't live your life based on what-ifs."

"I'm sorry, Aden. I think it's best if you skip it this year," Lexa says, trying to sound firm but not too much like the bad guy. Aden's the only family she has left. It was hard enough entrusting him into Clarke's care, but to let him go away with Finn and boys who have basically bullied him in the past? There's no way she can say 'yes'. She doesn't know what she'd do if anything happened to him.

Aden snatches the paper out of her hands and stalks off to his room without looking back. His anger isn't surprising, but she has faith that she's making the right decision. Life has a way of being unpredictable and cruel, she's learned that the hard way. 

"That went well," Clarke comments sarcastically, moving to take Lexa's dinner out of the microwave.

"How did you expect it to go?" Lexa asks, taking her jacket off and draping it over one of the bar-stools.

"I expected you to be excited for him. I've noticed he's been getting along better with the other boys at practice and he was obviously excited at the thought of having a whole weekend camping trip," Clarke explains.

"Okay, well maybe _we_ can take him on a camping trip once this case at work is done," Lexa reasons.

Clarke places her plate of food on the breakfast bar and Lexa takes a seat, eager to satiate the hunger she's felt for most of the day.

"You're missing the point," Clarke sighs. "Aden needs this."

"Needs what?" Lexa asks around a forkful of food.

"To socialize and be around people his own age," Clarke says, leaning on the counter opposite her. "If he's ever going to talk again, it's important that he goes to things like this."

Lexa sighs and shakes her head. "Since when did you become an expert?"

"What?" Clarke eyes narrow dangerously.

"When did you become an expert on kids and what's best for Aden?"

"I spend more time with him than you do these days, Lexa," Clarke replies, voice low. "I get that you're scared of letting him out of your sight for longer than a few hours and you're right, Finn probably isn't the most responsible adult in the world, but if you had read the whole thing, it says there will be multiple chaperones." 

"I've already made up my mind, Clarke," Lexa says, her stubborn nature coming to the forefront.

Clarke sighs and looks to the heavens, "Fine, it's your decision. I'm going home."

"What?" Lexa's head snaps up. "Why?"

"Because it's been a long day and we're both tired."

"Oh, come on. We've hardly gotten to talk!"

"I've already made up my mind," Clarke responds, mimicking her earlier words. "I'll see you tomorrow."

Lexa wordlessly watches Clarke gather her things and exit the apartment without sparing her a second glance. As Clarke closes the door, the apartment is shrouded in silence and it's suffocating. She can't bring herself to finish her dinner, no longer hungry. Lexa clears her plate and heads to her bedroom for an early night, hoping tomorrow will be better.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm really sorry for the wait between updates! There are a number of reasons for it, but I won't bore you with the details. Hopefully I'll be updating more regularly again from now on. Anyway, thank you for the comments on the last chapter and for being patient :) I appreciate it.


	14. Chapter 14

"Anya, I don't have time to talk," Lexa answers her phone hastily while trying to organize her things ready for work. 

"What a charming way to answer the phone," Anya drawls, clearly unimpressed with Lexa's less than polite greeting.

She lets out a deep sigh and tries to recollect herself. It isn't Anya's fault that she's in such a terrible mood and the last thing she wants to do is piss off another person in her life. "I'm sorry, Anya. How are you?"

"I'm fine, thank you for asking. What about you, you seem stressed?"

"I just have a lot going on at work at the moment," she replies, not wanting to discuss the disagreement she had with Aden and Clarke last night. 

"Lexa, I know you better than you know yourself. It's not just work, is it?" Anya asks, her tone changing to one of concern. "Is Aden okay?"

The boy in question trudges out of his room without casting a glance her way. He makes breakfast in silence, the only noise is that of the cupboards being opened, much more aggressively than necessary. If she had any hopes he wouldn't be as upset today, those hopes have vanished upon seeing the way Aden glares into his bowl of cereal.

"Aden's fine...physically," she mutters. 

"Ah, you've had an argument," Anya guesses.

"Something like that," Lexa sighs. 

"How's things with Clarke?" Anya asks, probably trying to move the conversation to a lighter place, but unknowingly bringing up another touchy subject.

"Yeah, Clarke's fine."

"Lexa..."

"She's mad at me," Lexa replies, trying to ignore the sinking feeling that accompanies those words.

A loud sigh erupts from Anya's end and Lexa braces herself for a lecture.

"What did you do?" 

"It's a long story. Anyway, I have to take Aden to school and get to work." 

She signals to Aden that he better finish his breakfast because they're leaving soon. A roll of the eyes and some sarcastic chewing is all she gets in acknowledgement.

"Okay, I'll let you go. Let me know if you need anything, okay?" Anya offers.

"I will. Thanks Anya," she replies gratefully. Anya has been endlessly supportive these last few weeks and Lexa could never be able to put into words the amount of gratitude she has for her best friend. "Talk to you later."

She hangs up the phone and sees Aden is dutifully washing his dishes in the sink. Lexa hears Clarke's words from last night ringing through her head _I spend more time with him than you do these days_. Of course, Clarke is right. It's not through a choice of her own, though. If she can't make her job work, then what will they have to live off? Nia has the power to block her employment prospects if she gets into her bad books and then where would they be? She has no choice but to jump through Nia's hoops and hope that she can do enough to win this case. Logically, she knows her late nights and stressful days are only temporary; the case will end eventually (hopefully sooner rather than later). She just hopes the toll it's taking on her life, and relationships in particular, are only temporary as well.

***

"Clarke, don't you think you're being a bit harsh on Lexa?"

She takes a big bite of her salad to avoid answering her Mom's question. Abby has a rare afternoon off from the hospital and they had organized to meet for lunch. She had just finished explaining her fight (if you could call it that) with Lexa and was expecting Abby to take her side, but that didn't seem to be the case.

"Mom, she was being unreasonable," she replies, stabbing some lettuce onto her fork.

"Honey, it seems like Lexa is under a lot of pressure at the moment. I'm sure she didn't mean to offend you," Abby offers, ever the diplomat.

Clarke takes a moment to swallow her food before replying. "I know she didn't intentionally try to hurt my feelings, but I still don't think she's being fair to Aden. You should have seen how happy he was, Mom."

"I'm not going to pretend to know exactly how Lexa feels, since the only things I know about her are from what you've told me, but I can only imagine the kind of stress she's facing at the moment," Abby says, her expression sympathetic. "You know how hard it was for us when your father died, imagine losing _both_ of your parents at the same time. I'm not ashamed to admit that it was a struggle raising you as a single parent. Lexa has been thrust into this kind of parental role, without any kind of experience or warning. She's just trying to do the best she can, Clarke. Don't be too hard on her."

She takes a few more bites of her salad, trying to digest both her food and Abby's words. Lexa does such a great job at looking after Aden that it's easy for her to forget sometimes that it's still something the other girl is adjusting to. Clarke can understand Lexa's reservations about Aden going away and why her initial instinct was to say 'no', even if she doesn't necessarily agree with them. 

"I'm a terrible girlfriend," she sighs, coming to the realization that she could have handled last night a lot better. "I knew Lexa was stressed and instead of helping, I made it even worse for her."

"Clarke," Abby places a soothing hand on her arm, "you're not a bad girlfriend." 

Clarke's fingers itch to take her phone out to text Lexa and make things right. "Maybe not, but I still need to apologize."

"You'll see her tonight, right?"

"Yeah," she agrees. "I just don't like the idea of waiting to apologize and letting Lexa spend the whole day thinking I'm upset with her." 

"That's what phones are for, Clarke. Call her now if that will make you feel better. I don't mind," Abby says with a smile.

Clarke takes a few moments to think things through. Should she call? It was their first argument, wouldn't it be better to apologize properly, in person? The thought of waiting until tonight makes her feel slightly uneasy. 

"Actually, maybe I'll stop by her office and take her some lunch." She knows Lexa is busy at work, but she needs to eat and surely she can spare Clarke a few minutes so she can apologize. 

"I'm sure Lexa will appreciate that, Sweetheart. Make sure you tell her I'm looking forward to rescheduling dinner soon."

"I will," Clarke agrees, rushing to finish her lunch so she can go see Lexa. She only hopes her visit will be a welcome one.

***  
Lexa rubs at her temples and tries not to audibly groan at the headache that has started blossoming after spending the morning working with Ontari. Usually, an extra pair of hands on a case would be a luxury that she would jump at. However, anything Lexa suggests, Ontari has a different opinion. The skeptical part of her thinks the only opinion Ontari has is whatever happens to be the complete opposite to Lexa's. If Nia's plan is to frustrate her to the point of quitting, this is a pretty good way to go about it. 

"Where are the lab reports?" Lexa asks, sitting in her office's 'guest' chair since Ontari had claimed Lexa's chair for her own, citing 'lower back problems' as her excuse.

"Oh, I put them on the floor," Ontari replies, gesturing to the stack of papers beside her feet, "I thought you were done with them."

Lexa grits her teeth and holds back the sarcastic comment on the tip of her tongue. "Would you mind passing them to me?"

Ontari looks from her hands, which are holding a pen and paper, then back at Lexa. "Actually, my hands are quite full at the moment."

Lexa is seconds away from losing her cool and telling Ontari to get the hell out of her office, when there's a knock on her door.

"Lexa?" Niylah pokes her head through the office door and she turns around to see her assistant smiling widely. "There's a Clarke Griffin here to see you."

"Clarke?" Lexa says, surprised. 

"I didn't think you had any appointments today, considering all the work we have to get done?" Ontari questions, eyes narrowed.

"Actually, Miss Queen, Clarke is Lexa's -" Niylah starts to explain but Lexa quickly interrupts her.

"-Very important client," Lexa almost shouts, trying to cut Niylah off. "Yes, a very valuable client. It must be an emergency for her to come all the way here. So, if you'll excuse me," Lexa stands up quickly, eager to see Clarke and get her away from Ontari. If the other girl becomes aware her girlfriend is visiting her at work and reports it to Nia... Well, who knows what she'll do.

Lexa closes the door behind her and spots Clarke lingering next to Niylah's desk, looking nervous. She briefly wonders if Clarke is there to break up with her, but shakes that thought away when Clarke steps forward to place a brief kiss on her cheek.

"Hi," Clarke whispers, biting her lip slightly.

"Hi," Lexa repeats back to her. "Not that I don't love seeing you, but what are you doing here?"

"I came to apologize for last night," Clarke replies, eyes flicking briefly to the floor before finding Lexa's again. "I'm sorry I didn't try to see things from your point of view, and I'm sorry if I overstepped with Aden."

"Clarke, I'm the one who's sorry. I was tired and stressed...I shouldn't have snapped at you, even though I still stand behind my decision regarding Aden's trip."

"Okay, we're both sorry," Clarke says, taking Lexa's hand in her own. "I hope you don't mind me coming to visit you at work. I didn't want to wait to make things right between us."

"Any other time, I'd love to have you here and I would take you out for lunch, but Ontari and Nia are making life pretty difficult for me right now," Lexa explains, lightly stroking Clarke's knuckles to let her know she _does_ appreciate her being there.

"I understand," Clarke says, taking her hand from Lexa's to reach into her bag and pull out a sandwich. "I brought you some lunch."

"What did I do to deserve you?" Lexa asks, genuinely touched that Clarke went to the effort to make peace between them and had the foresight to bring her something to eat.

"Sorry for eavesdropping, but you are literally standing in front of my desk," Niylah says, not looking the least bit sorry. "Everyone deserves a lunch break, Lexa. Why don't you take Clarke to the conference room since Ontari already thinks Clarke's your client?"

"Client?" Clarke questions, looking puzzled and somewhat offended.

"Sorry, I didn't want Ontari telling Nia I was being unprofessional at work or something like that, so I said you were my client."

"A highly valuable client," Niylah adds helpfully.

"The _most_ valuable," she emphasises. "Do you have time to join me for lunch?"

"I've already had lunch with my Mom, but I don't mind watching you eat if it means we get to spend time together." 

Lexa smiles gratefully in reply and tells Niylah to let Ontari know she's in a 'meeting' if she asks. It sounds a lot better than 'having lunch with her girlfriend and avoding you like the plague'. She leads Clarke to one of their conference rooms and ushers her in. The walls are made of glass panels that are tinted so the occupants can see out, but nobody can see in. 

"This is fancy," Clarke assesses, taking a seat in one of the leather chairs and appraising the modern setting.

"It's not bad," Lexa agrees, closing the door to the room. She pulls out the seat next to Clarke and angles it towards her so they can look at each other properly. "Thank you again for bringing me lunch."

"You're welcome," Clarke replies and gives Lexa a few quiet moments to start eating her sandwich.

"How was lunch with your Mom?"

"It was good. I hope you don't mind, but I told her about our argument last night and she helped me to understand things from your perspective," Clarke says.

Lexa is pleasantly surprised that Abby is the reason behind Clarke's change of heart. "Oh? I'll have to remember to thank Abby the next time I see her."

"We're good now, right? You forgive me for last night?" Clarke asks, eyes scanning Lexa's face for signs that she could still be upset with her.

"Of course," Lexa replies, dropping her half eaten sandwich back to the table and rolling Clarke's chair closer to hers so that their knees are touching. "As long as you forgive me too."

"Deal," Clarke agrees, placing her hands on Lexa's thighs to balance herself so she can lean forward and place a reassuring kiss to her lips. 

"Is it silly that I've missed you?" she asks, cupping Clarke's cheek and looking into her eyes. The late nights at work recently have meant that their time together has been somewhat limited and spent mostly with Lexa thoroughly exhausted, struggling to stay awake.

"I've missed you too," Clarke reassures, eyes bright with happiness.

Lexa closes the distance between them and captures Clarke's lips in a deep kiss that leaves both of them breathless. Her hand that's resting on Clarke's thigh, slowly changes into a tight grip as the kiss progresses and she can't help the moan that escapes her when Clarke's tongue reaches out to meets her own. 

Clarke's hand finds purchase at the back of Lexa's neck, scratching her nails lightly at the skin there. The nails scraping along the base of her neck, combined with the nipping and sucking of her bottom lip, leave Lexa struggling to contain her arousal.

"If all of my lunch breaks were like this, I'd have them more often," Lexa says, taking a second to catch her breath and peppering Clarke's neck with open-mouthed kisses.

"Lexa," Clarke whispers, "don't start something you can't finish."

"Actually, office sex has always been a fantasy of mine," she replies, voice low.

"Don't tease me," Clarke groans, pushing lightly at Lexa's shoulder, "you know you have to go back to work soon."

Lexa reluctantly places a final kiss to Clarke's shoulder before putting some distance between them. "I know."

"I'll remember that 'office sex fantasy' for the future though," Clarke replies, giving her a wink as she brushes a hand through her hair.

"I look forward to it," she says with a wide smile, picking up her lunch and putting it into the bin. 

At the start of the day, she never could have imagined that she would end up feeling so happy and content. She still needed to fix things with Aden, and work was still the worst, but with Clarke by her side, she couldn't help but feel optimistic.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey, thank you for all your lovely comments on the last chapter. I really appreciate the feedback and definitely enjoyed seeing whose side you were on! For those asking, I aim to update every two weeks. Though I'm really excited about the next chapter, so that might be sooner ;) thanks again for reading.


	15. Chapter 15

"Clarke, this is no time for sleeping!" Raven shouts, loudly announcing herself by tearing through Clarke's bedroom door and bouncing next to her on the bed.

"Raven, what the actual fuck?" she shouts, her heart racing from the unexpected wake up call. "How did you get into my apartment? I didn't forget to lock the door did I?"

"Relax," Raven says, rolling her eyes. "You didn't forget to lock the door. I used my key."

Upon hearing the words 'my key', Clarke shakes her head and tries to blink away the sleep from her eyes so she can focus on Raven properly. 

"What key? I didn't give you a key."

"Octavia has a key. We're both your best friends and I felt it was unfair that I was the only one who didn't have a key to your apartment. So, I borrowed Octavia's and got a key cut for myself," Raven explains, all matter of fact, like it was the obvious thing to do. 

"You're unbelievable," she mutters, equal parts annoyed and impressed by her determination.

"Exactly," Raven agrees, excitedly turning towards Clarke, "that's what I came to talk to you about."

"You came to talk to me about you being... _unbelievable_?" Clarke asks, confused.

"I had my date with Anya last night," Raven explains, her lips pulling into a smirk. "She definitely thinks I'm 'unbelievable'..If you know what I mean."

"Oh, ew!" she groans, grabbing her pillow from under her head and trying to cover her ears. "It's too early to hear about your sex-capades."

"Clarke," Raven laughs, trying to take the pillow away, "come on, I couldn't go to Octavia's to talk about the date because of Lincoln and the whole 'sibling' thing, so you have to let me talk about it!"

They struggle for a few seconds, both trying to get the pillow, before Clarke lets out a big sigh and admits defeat. "Fine, I'll let you talk about your date with Anya, but first, I need a shower and you can make me some coffee."

"Deal, Griff," Raven agrees, jumping out of the bed and making her way towards the kitchen. 

Clarke pushes her arms out and stretches, trying in vain to cling to the last bit of warmth and comfort. She sits up and reaches for her phone to check the time and smiles when she sees there are messages from Lexa.

**Lexa - My pillows smell like you.**  
**Lexa - I'm meeting Anya for a quick coffee. Apparently her and Raven had quite the date last night.**  
**Lexa - Ps. Good morning. [heart eyes emoji]**

She chuckles to herself upon seeing Lexa's use of an emoji and tries (without much success) to wipe the love-struck smile off her face.

**Clarke - I wish my pillows smelt like you. Raven is already here [rolls eyes emoji]. She has a key to my apartment?! Anyway, good morning to you as well [love heart emoji]**

"Clarke," Raven shouts, "I don't hear you getting out of bed. Stop being mushy with Lexa and get in the damn shower!"

She doesn't have the heart to argue, knowing Raven is correct in her assumption. Waking up to texts from her girlfriend is one of her favorite things. Lexa is always awake before her and most mornings leaves Clarke messages to wake up to.

Clarke finally gets out of bed, having much more enthusiasm to do so after hearing from Lexa, and makes her way towards her en-suite bathroom. 

As the warm water cascades down her back, Clarke closes her eyes and lets herself get wrapped up in a daydream of her and Lexa's make-out session from yesterday at the office. She's kissed a lot of people, especially during her college days, but nobody else can compare to Lexa's soft, plump lips. It's a struggle not to let her mind wander too much, knowing that Raven is in the apartment and waiting for her. 

Clarke finishes her shower, turning the water temperature to 'cold' for a few seconds before turning it off completely, trying to shake her less than friendly thoughts about Lexa from her mind. 

She doesn't put too much thought into her clothing, knowing she's likely to change into something later to go out in and decides on a long sleeved t-shirt and shorts, before going out to see what all the fuss is about in regards to Raven's date.

"Okay, what's so special about this date that you felt the need to break into my apartment and wake me up?" she asks, tying her wet hair into a bun and making her way into the living room. 

"Anya is _amazing_ ," Raven breathes, clearly smitten. 

Clarke is surprised by Raven's eagerness, knowing that the girl is usually more reserved about relationships until at least a few weeks in. She decides to shake off her annoyance at being woken up and pay more attention to her best friend.

"Tell me everything," Clarke encourages, grabbing her coffee and taking a seat next to Raven on the couch.

"Okay," Raven says, barely able to sit still. "The plan was to go out for dinner. So, I offered to pick Anya up and I was on time, everything was going well. Until my car broke down," Raven laughs, eyes wide like she can hardly believe it. "I'm a mechanic and my car broke down. Anya found it hilarious. Anyway, I popped the hood to take a look and fix it, which I did, but my dress ended up covered in oil and black marks. We ended up ditching the restaurant plan and getting a takeaway, which we ate in my car, under the starts...like an impromptu picnic. It was perfect," Raven swoons. 

"First of all, I'm getting Lincoln to service my car from now on since you can't even take care of your own," she jibes and Raven looks only slightly offended. "Second, that sounds amazing and straight out of a romantic comedy, you know, the ones you usually give me hell for watching."

" _Anyway_ ," Raven says, rolling her eyes and changing the subject, "Anya is great. I didn't know what to expect, since we kinda already slept together....I didn't know if we'd have much in common. But, Clarke... She's so easy to talk to. I even told her about my accident," Raven whispers, her hand drifting briefly to her brace-covered knee.

"Wow," Clarke says, her surprise growing. Raven rarely talks about her knee or brace with anyone other than her and Octavia. It's not something that Raven enjoys talking about, so for her to bring it up voluntarily with Anya on their first date? It says a lot about her comfort level and trust in Anya already. "Rae, I'm so proud of you. When's the next date?"

"Today," Raven answers, eyes dancing with mischief. "Anya called Lincoln and ordered him to let me have an extended break so we could have lunch together, since it's her day off. Speaking of work," Raven says, glancing at her watch, "I should probably get going."

"What a shame," Clarke jokes and Raven shoves her shoulder. 

"How are you and Lexa going?" Raven asks, standing and picking up her jacket from the back of the sofa to put back on.

"Yeah, we're good," Clarke replies, taking a sip of her coffee to mask the grin threatening to overtake her face as she remembers those racier thoughts from ealier. 

"We'll have to organize a double date," Raven says, without a trace of sarcasm.

"Uhh," she freezes, knowing Lexa would hate that, "actually, Lexa's quite busy with work at the moment."

"Well, she can't be busy forever. We'll make it happen," Raven winks, grabbing her car keys and making her way to the front door. "I'll see you on Saturday?"

"Yep," Clarke nods, opening the door for her. "Enjoy your lunch with Anya."

"Thanks, Clarke," Raven says, giving her a quick hug before exiting the apartment.

Clarke closes the door and takes her coffee with her to the bedroom to check if Lexa has replied to her texts. 

**Lexa - Oh god, please don't tell Anya that Raven has a key to your place. She'll think it's a great idea and ask me for one to MY apartment.**

She lets out a mighty groan upon reading Lexa's text, realizing that Raven still has the key to her apartment. She had meant to ask for it back. Clarke wonders briefly if it might be easier to just change her locks.

***

"It's about time," Anya huffs, as Lexa takes a seat opposite her. "I ordered you a coffee but it's probably cold by now."

"It's the thought that counts," Lexa replies, taking a sip of her cold coffee. 

Anya rolls her eyes in response, clearly unimpressed at being kept waiting. "I know you haven't got much time, so let's get straight to it, pun intended," Anya adds with a self-satisfied smirk. "How are you? How's Clarke?"

"She's good," Lexa answers, a coy smile in place. "I'm good. We're all good."

"Yeah, sure," Anya says, disbelief written all over her face. "When I called you yesterday, you were all doom and gloom."

"Ah," she says, taking another sip of her coffee, "that's all sorted now."

"Well, what happened?" Anya asks, clearly not willing to drop the subject.

"Clarke and I had a disagreement," she explains, avoiding eye contact. "Well, Aden and I, too." 

"What did you do?"

"What makes you think it was my fault?"

"Was it?"

"Yes," Lexa huffs, "I suppose it was." 

"Exactly. Let's hear it, then," Anya says, staring her down.

Lexa lets out a sigh and starts picking at the edge of her coffee cup. "Aden wants to go on some soccer camp thing and I said 'no'. It didn't go down very well."

"No shit," Anya snorts. "So how did you make up with Clarke? Flowers or chocolates? Something sexual that I don't want to know about?"

"Anya," she sighs, "you know we haven't slept together yet."

"If you took my advice about buying Aden some earplugs.." Anya trails off, eyebrow raised.

"No. Anyway, Clarke actually brought me lunch at work and apologized."

Anya is mid-sip and almost spits out her drink. " _She_ apologized?"

"Yes, she did," Lexa answers, a smile forming as she remembers what the apology led to.

"Why don't you want Aden to go?" Anya asks, confused.

"Because Coach Collins is unreliable and can't be trusted," she grumbles. "There's no way I can let Aden go. It's not safe."

"Lexa, it's a soccer camp, how much trouble can he get into?"

"It's a few hours drive," she replies, voice soft.

"So, this is about the drive?"

"Anya, my parents were great drivers and still died in a freak accident. It would be irresponsible of me to let him go on a trip so far away with an unknown driver," she explains, trying to keep her reasons logical and unemotional.

"You're scared," Anya appraises, seeing through Lexa easily.

"Wouldn't you be?" She responds, not bothering to deny it. "He's the only family I have left and it's my responsibility to keep him safe."

"Okay," Anya agrees, "but you can't keep him locked up forever. He's going to get older and start making his own choices. I know it's scary, Lexa, but your parents wouldn't want him, or you, missing out on things because of what happened to them." 

"What they would want," she says, temper flaring, "is for Aden to be safe. I can't keep him safe if he's that far away, can I?"

"Lexa, I'm your best friend. You know I've always got your back, but just take some time to think about this. Your parents were some of the most loving and caring people I've ever met," Anya says, her face clouding with sadness. "More than anything, they'd just want you both to do whatever makes you happy."

Lexa doesn't answer straight away, Anya's words filling her with emotion. It hurts Lexa to think about her parents and she avoids doing so, which probably isn't the healthiest way to deal with things. Deep down, she knows Anya is right. Her mother in particular would always encourage them to take risks and follow their heart. 

"I'll think about it," she says, voice barely above a whisper. 

"Speaking of what makes you happy, when are you quitting you job? You're looking skinnier than usual and not in a healthy way," Anya points out, eyes disapproving.

"I can't just quit, Anya. I have responsibilities."

"So get another job! You were top of your class and you're a kick-ass lawyer. Anyone with half a brain would hire you."

"Not if my boss tells them not to," she says, bitterly. "Nia has connections everywhere. She's told me herself that she can make it so that no other firm would want to hire me."

"That's bullshit," Anya says, fists clenching. "She can't do that!"

"Trust me, she can," Lexa sighs. "Anyway, I only have a few minutes left before I have to get back to the office, fill me in on what happened with your date."

"It was amazing," Anya informs her, smile brighter than Lexa remembers seeing it in a while. "We really connected."

" 'Really connected' better not be a euphemism for sex," she replies, eyes narrowed.

"No!" Anya denies, laughing. "We really did get to know each other. She's easy to talk to."

"When are you getting married?" she teases.

"Shut up," Anya says, throwing her napkin at her. "Actually, I'm taking Raven out for lunch, so I better be going as well."

"A second date already?" Lexa rises from her seat and and throws her coffee into the bin. "It must be love."

Anya shakes her head, but doesn't say anything to dispute Lexa's claim. She doesn't have it in her heart to tease her friend any further, knowing she would be a hypocrite for pointing out how fast she's falling for Raven when it's exactly how she feels about Clarke.

***

Lexa arrives home after a long day of work, exhausted yet again. The break she had with Anya ended up being the only bit of peace she enjoyed for the entire day. 

She decides against calling out to announce her arrival, just in case Clarke or Aden are asleep. Quietly, she takes off her shoes and jacket, before moving to the living area to see where everyone is.

Clarke looks up at her from the couch and flashes her a smile, dropping her sketchpad onto the table. Aden is asleep next to her, curled up on the opposite end of the couch. It looks like it's another night that she's arrived home too late to spend any time with Aden.

"Hey," she whispers, greeting Clarke with a quick kiss. "Has he been asleep long?"

Clarke looks at her phone to check the time before answering. "He fell asleep an hour or so ago."

Lexa's torn between carrying him to bed or waking him up. He looks so peaceful, but her whole body is exhausted and she doesn't want to risk dropping him.

"Aden," she whispers, lightly shaking his shoulder as not to startle him, "time for bed."

The boy in question lets out a light puff of air from his lips but doesn't stir any further. She shares a look with Clarke and rolls her sleeves up in preparation to carry Aden to bed. 

Lexa bends down to delicately get Aden into her arms before heading off to the direction of his bedroom. She then gently places him in his bed, trying not to wake him, but his eyes flutter open anyway.

"Go back to sleep," she whispers, placing the bed covers over him lightly.

Aden pulls her down when she reaches his chest with the covers and gives her a quick hug, surprising her with the intensity of it. She knows he must still be upset with her about the soccer camp situation, so the affection is unexpected to say the least. 

"Night, Aden," she says, lightly stroking his hair instead of the ruffling she usually favors.

She gets up to leave and Aden closes his eyes again, keen to go back to sleep. Lexa closes his bedroom door with a soft 'click' and heads back to the living room to join Clarke.

"Do you want me to make you something to eat?" Clarke questions, readying herself to get up.

"No, it's okay. I just want to sit with you," she replies, taking a seat close to Clarke and holding up her arm in invitation. "Cuddling with my girlfriend beats food at the moment."

"That's sweet, but you hardly eat as it is," Clarke admonishes, though it doesn't stop her from nestling into Lexa's side.

"I'll eat something in a bit," she acquiesces. "How was your day? Was Aden okay?"

"He was a bit quiet," Clarke says and Lexa laughs. "Not just vocally, obviously. He did his homework in his room and only came out for dinner. I had to coax him to sit and watch some television with me."

"He gave me a hug while I was putting him to bed. I still don't think that means I'm forgiven," she sighs.

"I think he misses you," Clarke replies, gently. 

"I miss him too," Lexa adds, unnecessarily. It's obvious she would much rather be at home with Aden than at a job she's beginning to loathe. "Anya thinks I should quit my job."

"I second that," Clarke agrees. "You work so hard. You could probably run your own firm since you already do the job of five people as it is."

"I'd love that," Lexa replies, wistfully. "If I had the money, I'd take my clients and run."

"If my comic does well and I become famous, I'll give you a loan," Clarke jokes.

"I'll hold you to that," she says, squeezing Clarke's side. "Is that what you've been working on?" she asks, pointing to the sketchpad now abandoned on the table.

"I was, but I'm not sure how you'll react," Clarke answers, voice turning shy.

"Can I see?" she asks, gesturing to the sketch. She enjoys looking at Clarke's artwork and seeing what the other girl is able to bring to life on paper.

Clarke doesn't answer, just leans forward out of Lexa's embrace to pick up the book and hand it to her.

Lexa carefully takes the sketchpad from Clarke, eager to see what her girlfriend has been working on. What she doesn't expect to see is her own face staring back at her.

"You're drawing me?" she asks, confused but still in awe.

"Do you remember the discussion we had about the male 'Commander' in my comic?" Clarke asks, staring down at the sketch as Lexa is. "Well, I thought about what a coincidence it is that Anya calls you 'Commander' as a nickname and it went from there. You're the one who made me question my need to keep the male to female ratio in the first place, and, well, who better to be my new 'Commander' than the one who already features in my own reality?"

"Clarke..." Lexa starts, trying to take it all in, "are you sure about this? I'm not sure I could be the leader of a clan, even a fictionary one."

"Lex, you have all the qualities to be a leader," Clarke tells her, cupping her cheek so they can lock eyes. "You'd do anything for Aden and Anya, your _people_. Even though I don't agree with it, you still make the hard choices in order to keep Aden safe, knowing it won't make you very popular. You're smart, loyal and incredibly caring. That wouldn't change, no matter what universe we're in."

"Is that really how you see me?" Lexa asks, eyes roaming over Clarke's face, looking for any trace of doubt. 

"Yes," Clarke replies, voice steady and sure. "So, is it okay if I use you in my comic?"

"How can I argue with that?" she asks, rhetorically. Lexa places the sketchbook back on the coffee table and moves closer to Clarke, the younger girl wrapping an arm around her so that she's now the one being held. "I haven't been very Commander-like lately, though."

"You've had a stressful couple of weeks," Clarke rebutts, stroking soothing patterns up and down Lexa's back.

"Anya thinks I made the wrong decision about letting Aden go away," she admits, feeling safe enough in Clarke's arms to talk about what has been on her mind, eating at her all day. "If my parents were alive, I know they'd let him go."

"Probably," Clarke agrees, trying to be neutral despite her own personal feelings, "but it's your call."

Lexa lets out a big sigh before letting the words she knows have slowly been building throughout the day. "If it makes him happy, he should go."

"It would definitely make him happy, but are you sure you're okay with it?"

"No," she breathes out, truthfully, "but I think it's the right decision for Aden."

She feels Clarke place a kiss on top of her hair and closes her eyes, content that she has voiced her decision out loud and can let it go enough to relax. Lexa forgets all about dinner and falls asleep against Clarke within a matter of minutes.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for reading! I'm sorry that it's taking me longer than usual to update. I originally planned to update every 1-2 weeks but I have a few more responsibilities at the moment which means it's more likely to be every 2-3 weeks. As long as you guys have patience, I promise I will finish this story. I do have an end-game and I definitely want to have a completed fic. Anyway, thank you for your feedback/support/patience/just for reading and still keeping up with this story. I appreciate it very much.


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